Office Depot to close 112 stores Bizjournals.com - 28 minutes ago
Office Depot on Wednesday said it will close 112 underperforming retail stores in North America during the next three months. The announcement said the closures would occur in various geographic regions, including 45 in the central US, ...
GMAC at the brink CNNMoney.com - 49 minutes ago General Motors' finance unit is falling short of capital requirements it needs to become a bank holding company and access needed cash from the government.
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Nortel Drops After WSJ Says It’s Exploring Bankruptcy Filing Bloomberg - 1 hour ago By Joe Schneider and Katie Hoffmann Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Nortel Networks Corp. fell as much as 19 percent in early trading after the Wall Street Journal said the phone-equipment maker is exploring a possible bankruptcy filing.
"I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening," Obama told reporters in the wake of Tuesday's indictment.
But soon after his statement, ABC's Jake Tapper posted video of a November 23 interview in which senior adviser David Axelrod said of Obama's involvement that "I know he's talked to the governor."
Later in the day, Axelrod claimed he was "mistaken" in the interview.
The scandal has also drawn attention to Obama's relationship with Blagojevich, which Obama's defenders say is tangential, while other evidence suggests otherwise.
In a July New Yorker article, reporter Ryan Lizza quotes Obama's chief of staff designate, Rahm Emanuel, as saying that he and Obama served as key advisers to Blagojevich in his run for governor, along with two other campaign staffers. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two,” Emanuel said, according to the magazine.
Lizza goes on to write that "a spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. 'There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,' Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was 'an architect or one of the principal strategists.'"
What is clear is that Obama endorsed and campaigned for Blagojevich in 2002. In June of that year, he told Jeff Berkowitz, a local television interviewer, that his "main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as governor," and when asked whether he was working hard for him, Obama responded, "you betcha."
Some of Obama's signature moves could be seen in Blagojevich's 2002 campaign: promising change and reform, tying his Republican opponent (Jim Ryan) to the unpopular Republican incumbent (George Ryan), and turning his unusual name into an asset and source of humor.
"How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change?" Blagojevich asked at a rally that summer at the Illinois State Fair, according to an Associated Press account at the time. "You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich! Now that's change."
Obama also endorsed Blagojevich for reelection, even as the governor was embroiled in a controversy over hiring. "If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I'll be happy to do it," Obama told the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006.
Obama's past political support for Blagojevich should renew concerns about the incoming president's pattern of troubling associations, or at least, his willingness to look the other way in the face of wrongdoing if it's in his political interests at the time.
DR, I think you nailed it on the dye. My better half agrees with you, and she is something of an expert in identifying dyed hair, often commenting on the variations in tone of Alan Colmes awful dye job.
What gets me is the way he combs it down in his face like a 16 year old boy. Some serious marbles rolling around inside that skull.
Frankly, I hope and pray Obama never talked him. This nation doesn't need that now. We need a leader focused on solving our problems, not those of his own making.
"A few threads ago, we were discussing whether the US was a socialist State, or not.
ash providing the definition of socialism, then admitting the US fit it. My position that the increasingly socialist aspects of the Government had been planned and nutured. That both of the major political parties had contributed to the trend, at least since 1912.
Manufacturing was touted as one of the aspects of the economy that the Federals did not control, directly. Soon there'll be a Federal Car Czar. My how time flies."
Reminds me of this op-ed by Rick Salutin:
"How did this U.S. election come to be about socialism? I thought it was going to be about racism. Or war. But then the economic crisis erupted and ...
Let's start with this. Socialism is not defined by state intervention in an economy. All states intervene in the economy, the United States more than most. It busts open foreign markets, fights for global resources (such as oil), controls labour militancy, develops new products (such as the Internet), which it then hands off to business. Above all, its military spending fuels its economy, and has for generations. Bank bailouts fit like a hand in a glove.
Okay, what about "spreading the wealth"? Not socialism either, within clear limits. Larry King asked John McCain this week whether a graduated income tax isn't (a sort of socialist) redistribution. The McCain reply was: Yes it is and no it's not.
But whatever it is, socialism is in the air. A Florida news anchor quotes Karl Marx and asks Joe Biden whether Barack Obama is a Marxist. McCain-Palin call Obama-Biden "socialist." The Washington Post wants to know if capitalism is dead. Isn't it socialism that was supposed to be defunct? When did you last hear the "S-word"?
Probably circa 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall. For a century and a half before that, the capitalist world was "haunted" by a spectre - the spectre of socialism, or communism, as Marx and Engels called it in The Communist Manifesto of 1848. That spectre was embraced by radical unions, movements and parties, then by the Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union, followed by socialist regimes in China, Vietnam, Cuba, Africa etc. Then, poof, they're all gone - yet the spectre is baaaack. How did it happen?
I'd say it's because it was never those socialists who kept the spectre of socialism alive. It was capitalism itself! Karl Marx wrote relatively little on socialism, just a few evocative hints in his callow (or not so callow) youth. But he exhausted himself analyzing capitalism. His argued that capitalism leads inevitably to crisis - a terse term for massive human wreckage - that leads inevitably to a search for better ways to organize economies, which will be, in some form, socialist. It's all dialectical as hell (Marx said), and if there's not a socialist in sight, capitalism will still continue to produce the spectre of socialism along with its nightmarish crises.
Since the spectre arises, yet there are now few regimes, leaders or theorists to give it voice, it's as if it seeks to channel itself, inhabiting any presence it can - like a dybbuk, the spirit of one person migrated into the body of another. So it speaks from the throats of John McCain, Sarah Palin, a Florida TV anchor, The Washington Post or Alan Greenspan, confessing he was mistaken about capitalism all his life.
And what is socialism? Well, Mr. Obama said this week that he expects to be called socialist because he shared his toys in kindergarten. It was a clever deflection of the charge but it's also a good start. Maybe the dybbuk speaks through him, too. Socialism is essentially social. It's based on a belief that we're responsible for and indebted to each other - including past generations. So sharing isn't a choice, it's our nature. Therefore, roughly speaking, everyone is equally entitled to basics such as jobs, homes, health and education - especially kids. State intervention in the service of that vision would count as socialism. There might be non-governmental forms, too. Eventually, the state might "wither away," as Marx said, but that mutual responsibility never would.
An Obama victory would be a stunning event, like Nelson Mandela's release from prison and election as South African president. I never expected to see either. On the other hand, I felt I had seen socialism and would see more of it - in Canada, for example. This has led to some disappointment, I admit, but it's also nice to have got it wrong, and know that future surprises still await us."
Sources Say Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is 'Senate Candidate #5'
Feds Plan to Interview Chicago Congressman as Part of Blagojevich Probe
By BRIAN ROSS December 10, 2008
SHARE Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is the anonymous "Senate Candidate #5" whose emissaries Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich reportedly claimed offered up to a million dollars to name him to the U.S. Senate, federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
The politician says he is not a target of the Blagojevich investigation.
According to the FBI affidavit in the case, Blagojevich "stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH" with something "tangible up front."
Jackson Jr. said this morning he was contacted yesterday by federal prosecutors in Chicago who he said "asked me to come in and share with them my insights and thoughts about the selection process."
Jackson Jr. said "I don't know" when asked if he was Candidate #5, but said he was told "I am not a target of this investigation."
Jackson Jr. said he agreed to talk with federal investigators "as quickly as possible" after he consults with a lawyer
Obama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall
By MIKE McINTIRE and JEFF ZELENY Published: December 9, 2008
"In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.
Tipped off to Mr. Blagojevich’s efforts, federal agents obtained wiretaps for his phones and eventually overheard what they say was scheming by the governor to profit from his appointment of a successor to the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama."
Socialism is essentially social. It's based on a belief that we're responsible for and indebted to each other - including past generations. So sharing isn't a choice, it's our nature. Therefore, roughly speaking, everyone is equally entitled to basics such as jobs, homes, health and education - especially kids. State intervention in the service of that vision would count as socialism.
in·debt·ed 1 : owing gratitude or recognition to another : beholden 2 : owing money
Outstanding use of doublespeak and doublethink by our tortured logicians of the Left.
Invisible forces compel us to give up our personal sovereignty. We have no choice because of our human nature. Our minds are not our own, but government compulsion / policy is needed to ensure that we indeed execute our unstoppable human nature. Is that what we are hearing?
I like the concept that the government seizing the fruits of your mind and body against your will to "share" with people that did NOTHING to help you earn them is the same thing as sharing your toys in kindergarten.
It is interesting, how poorly prepared the Democrats are. Here the Governor wants payment to him, or his wife, directly.
While the Repubs always seem to keep an arms length away.
McCain's campaign head, his company gets the payments, while he draws no salary. This placates the Press and kept McCain above and out of the fray.
But them Dems claim home office excemptions on entire foors of rent controlled residential housing, in NYCity. Which is an indictment of rent control, as much as anything else.
"Outstanding use of doublespeak and doublethink by our tortured logicians of the Left."
One goes through a similar doublespeak and doublethink when justifying the military from the right side of divide. You know, all for one, one for all and jack boots without the smiley face.
I mean, come on guys, what should we have expected from the State that gave US Dan Rostenkowski
Rostenkowski's political career was shattered in 1994, when he was indicted on corruption charges for his key role in the House post office scandal. He was forced to step down from all Congressional leadership positions. In elections later that year, Rostenkowski lost his seat and retired from political life. Charges against Rostenkowski included
keeping "ghost" employees on his payroll, using Congressional funds to buy gifts such as chairs and ashtrays for friends, and trading in officially purchased stamps for cash at the House post office[1]. In 1996, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges of mail fraud. He was fined and was sentenced to 17 months in prison, of which he served 15. Rostenkowski was pardoned in Dec. 2000 by US President Bill Clinton. (wiki)
Just another Chi-town star. Traded in the spread on his subsidized postage stamps.
March 2006 - Dunkin’ Donuts is acquired by the Carlyle Group and two other buyout firms. The Carlyle Group, headquartered on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol Hill, pays George’s daddy for public speeches promoting Carlyle interests.
The firm has many strong ties to the Washington establishment as well as to the Bin Ladens and to powerful politicians and businesspeople in Asia and the Middle East.
Carlyle’s massive investments in a range of weapons firms, oil corporations and media companies ensure it handsome profits from U.S. military incursions in the Middle East.
June 2006 - Dunkin’ Donuts publicizes a new plan to “rapidly expand to nearly 15,000 US locations by 2020,” according to the Boston Globe.
July 2006 - George W. Bush’s handlers arrange a photo opp at a Virginia Dunkin’ Donuts, where George passes out Dunkin’ Donuts products to reporters and carefully poses with the Dunkin’ Donuts logo in plain view.
So flogging Dunkin' Donuts is morally superior to re-sellin' postage stamps, that seems clear enough.
Wonder if how the $500,000 or $1,000,000 payment was going to be structured would make a difference. Contributions to a charitable foundation, that is always a arms length option.
A seat on a Board for the wife, that's pushing the envelope, but McCain advisor and past US Senator Phil Gramm, his wife sat on the Enron board, while Mr Gramm wrote laws that deregulated their industry. If Enron had not collapsed, it'd never have become an issue. As it was, it ended Mr Gramm's career.
O/T, but since this topic is near and dear to several regulars and at least one of the proprietors, I thought it worthy of a comment.
Mexico: Growing Terror and Close to Collapse By Douglas Farah (Counterterrorism Blog)
One of the most amazing things to me in the recent electoral process was the complete absence of serious discussion by either camp of anything relating to Latin America.
While Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador have formed a new anti-U.S. and pro-Iranian axis, perhaps the most dangerous developments are taking place directly on our southern border. It is to the point where the Mexican government, despite commendable efforts by the Calderon administration, is barely hanging on.
I say this with deep sadness. I lived through the similar Colombian experience where the narco-violence shattered the country, almost took over the state, and claimed the lives of many of my friends, including journalists I worked with. That is part of the reason I cannot understand the lack of attention to the crisis.
We are looking at the creation of a series of mini narco-states along our border, and from our border heading south through Central America. Mexico's own southern border with Guatemala is now awash in cartel violence, and much of Guatemala is no longer under state control. El Salvador is a money laundering sanctuary, as is Panama, and Nicaragua, along with Venezuela, have become black holes where an increasing amount of cocaine transits.
This is a clear and present danger not only to the United States, which will (and already has) suffer from the spillover of violence and border security-but to the Mexican state as well.
The drug war there is taking an enormous toll. Even hospitals are no longer safe from the violence.
Senior police and government officials are assassinated with such frequency their deaths seldom make the news here at all. Some are killed because they are trying to do the right thing, some because they are on the losing side of an intra-cartel battle, but it is shredding the authority of the state.
Illegal immigration of non-Latin Americans, including Iranians, Chinese and Turks, is on the rise. Why does this matter? Because the cartels in their many different iterations and factions, thrive on instability, and their ability to move anything (drugs, people, weapons) across our border. Iranians and Turks arriving this way are not here to see the Empire State Building or the Grand Canyon. My full blog is here.
It also seems obvious that no money had changed hands. Nothing had been sold and the details of the quid pro que had not been finalized. In so far as the Senate seat goes.
Part of the funny stuff, I thought, was that he had not gotten the promised $50,000 from the hospital deal.
the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that federal investigators “are looking into allegations that a longtime friend and benefactor tried to steer money to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman [R-Minn.].” Coleman is currently embroiled in a grueling recount battle with Democratic challenger Al Franken, following last month’s general election. Agents with the FBI have talked to or made efforts to talk to people in Texas familiar with the allegations, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Houston is where the first of two lawsuits was filed alleging Nasser Kazeminy, a Bloomington financier, tried to steer $100,000 to Coleman via his wife’s Minneapolis employer. The second suit, filed in Delaware, alleges Kazeminy initially tried to get money directly to the senator.
Both Coleman and Kazeminy have denied any wrongdoing, and Coleman last month said he welcomes an investigation.
Over at our sister site, The Minnesota Independent, Chris Steller sees some similarities between the allegations about Coleman and the charges being brought against Blagojevich. In both cases, the charges are that illegal payoffs to the elected official would be masked as payment of work performed by the wife. The monetary amounts are in the same ballpark: Laurie Coleman’s company received $75,000 and was to be paid $25,000, while the salary proposed for Patricia Blagojevich ran as high as $150,000.
One difference: In the Colemans’ case, payments — which haven’t been shown to be illegal, and whose propriety Sen. Coleman has insisted on — were actually made, not just talked about during wiretapped conversations.
Coleman made the following statement about the report last night: We are not aware of any investigation that is under way, nor have we been contacted by any agency with respect to this matter. As we have said repeatedly, we welcome any investigation of these lawsuits by the appropriate authorities to get to the bottom of these baseless, sleazy and politically inspired allegations.
Do you have faith in the United States Supreme Court?
Nick Says:
December 10, 2008 at 1:49 pm [Ed. good research, Nick nice job.] Leo
Earlier today on comment #3 above I posted about the potential influence of Clerks within SC. In subsequent surfing I came across this article posted 12/9 It seems my earlier assumption is on point, and certainly something we all need to be aware…READ ATTACHED ARTICLE
Rehnquist 1957 Assertion That Clerks Influenced Supreme Court Borne Out by New Study By Andrew Burt Posted December 9, 2008 A new study published by the DePaul Law Review argues that Supreme Court justices’ legal opinions can be influenced by their clerks’ political views. The study cites a 1957 U.S. News article by William H. Rehnquist, then a former law clerk whose own ascension to the high court still lay 15 years in his future, in 1972 (and who would become chief justice in 1986).
In his piece, Rehnquist claimed that the political prejudices of clerks influenced what cases the court decided to hear. Then—as today—clerks briefed the justices on the cases that have reached the court. “The volume factor” of the cases justices must either grant or deny, as he described it, combined with the role clerks are assigned, gives the clerks a substantial amount of sway over the court. Rehnquist went on to describe the clerks’ prejudices as “leftist,” ascribing to them an “extreme solicitude for the claims of communists.”
Rehnquist’s arguments drew upon his own experience as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, and in so doing, broke “the code of silence” observed by former Supreme Court justices even today. The piece, it should go without saying, was controversial at the time.
Responding to the controversy, a more hesitant Rehnquist softened some of his previous claims in a second article for U.S. News. The arguments made in his original piece, he wrote, must await an “impartial study of the matter.”
More than 50 years later, the DePaul Law Review study appears to have corroborated Rehnquist’s claims.
Read the 1957 Rehnquist article.
Leo Donofrio has been relating how he and others have been jerked around by the clerks.
Thanks for the reference to that LAT article, DR. Startfor is also running a series on states in crisis - Mexico is the first one and they've published two parts thus far. I haven't had time to read them yet...
I too questions Fitz’s timing. Doesn’t one usually wait until an actual transaction has taken place? Bag of money handed over…wire sent or some such? What did his office have to lose by setting on this and listening in for another week or two? Perhaps he may have been concerned about catching too big of a fish. Considering the way he went after White House instead of DOS staff in the Plame game causes me a bit of concern regarding his political leanings. He could have very easily allowed the biding process to proceed but that would have of course implicated more democrats.
I know you don't follow these things Ash, but Donofrio is a Libertarian who voted for Ron Paul in the primaries, and his suit seeks to invalidate McCain, Obama, and Calero, none of whom were natural born citizens, in his view. Calero is a Nicaraguan, on the ballot in some states in the USA, we have become so sloppy. Berg is a democrat Hillary supporter. These folks are concerned about the Constitution, not a particular candidate, though they have all become convinced Obama is a fraud. The post above just referenced the gatekeeper problem at the court, which seems to have been in existence for sometime.
UN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims
Study: Half of warming due to Sun! –Sea Levels Fail to Rise? - Warming Fears in 'Dustbin of History'
POZNAN, Poland - The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland is about to face a serious challenge from over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe who are criticizing the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. Set for release this week, a newly updated U.S. Senate Minority Report features the dissenting voices of over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN. The report has added about 250 scientists (and growing) in 2008 to the over 400 scientists who spoke out in 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers. The U.S. Senate report is the latest evidence of the growing groundswell of scientific opposition rising to challenge the UN and Gore. Scientific meetings are now being dominated by a growing number of skeptical scientists. The prestigious International Geological Congress, dubbed the geologists' equivalent of the Olympic Games, was held in Norway in August 2008 and prominently featured the voices and views of scientists skeptical of man-made global warming fears.
Interesting point Joe Buz. It prompted me to surf a bit. I came across:
"Mr. Fitzgerald wanted to stop crimes in progress — among them the possibility that the governor would actually succeed in his alleged efforts to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. As a result, said Alison Siegler, the director of the Federal Criminal Justice Project at the University of Chicago School of Law, he used a tactic more frequently seen in the federal prosecutions of bank robbers and drug couriers than of political figures who have been subjects of long-standing criminal investigations."
"Update | 4:15 p.m.: Mr. Barkow writes in again to say that ending the investigation prematurely could harm the prosecution’s ability to make a larger case, by, for example, following up on calls recorded on the wiretap to investigate other people who might be implicated. Mr. Alschuler makes a similar argument. “It is a masterful job for law enforcement, but it does leave loose ends. They haven’t caught all the bad guys yet.”"
Here Ash, this fellow's comment seems aimed at you---
glnolsn Says:
December 10, 2008 at 1:54 pm It seems every time I read a rebuttal regarding the eligibility of the President in your case and Cort’s case, they seem to be in defense of Mr. Obama as to Eleanor Holmes Norton’s comment. Their statements would be more respectable if they would grasp and comment based on the overall content of the case and include Senator John McCain (and of course Callero). The case really deserves a broader understanding, consideration and view as to the eligibility of the President of the United States according to the U.S. Constitution. This has been an important factor for all past elections and now for this election and also needs to be recognized future elections. This case is just not about a single candidate.
---------- Old Japanese Proverb states:
“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”
A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.
(Proverbs 27: 19)
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I think Jesse Jackson Jr. is in a heap of trouble. And I bet the Illinois governor's sings, sings, sings.
Doubt Jesse Jr is in much trouble at all, bob. His folk discussed contributions to what, in exchange for the seat. Payments structured and delivered, how, by whom, when?
Perhaps Mr Fritz has those answers, if not, I'd not be speakin' to the Feds, if I was Jr. Not after the experiences of Ms Stewart and Scooter Libby.
This one is even funnier that the Dunkin' Donuts ...
Dragging out his 15 minutes of fame, Joe the plumber had not-so-kind words for John McCain, who tried to make him a symbol of his differences with Democratic rival Barack Obama on taxes.
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher confronted Obama over his tax plans during an Ohio campaign stop, prompting Obama to say he wanted to "spread the wealth." McCain jumped on the remark, and invited Wurzelbacher to appear at rallies.
But Tuesday on the Glenn Beck radio show, Wurzelbacher bashed McCain for supporting the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. McCain, in fact, suspended his campaign and threatened to skip the first presidential debate in September to return to Congress to try to shepherd the deal.
"When I was on the bus with him, I asked him a lot of questions about the bailout because most Americans did not want that to happen, yet he voted for it," Wurzelbacher said. "At the same time he's talking about how he's going to make somebody famous if they even think about putting pork in the bill? We all know how much pork was in the $700 billion bailout package. And why did he vote for it? And I asked him pretty direct questions and some of the answers you guys are going to receive, you know, they appalled me, absolutely. You know, I was angry. In fact, I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him."
But who cares about our history, or the meaning of words, or the Constitution these days?
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As to the Judges on the Supreme Court, their feet are made of clay, bob
Alas, I'm afraid you are right.
No, everyone was working hard to convince US a military hospital in the Canal Zone was naturally a part of America.
I too had accepted that McCain was eligible based on that. I quess I thought there must have been a SCOTUS ruling on that.
Anyway, I think we need a court ruling to get it straight, but it's unlikely we will, and I think it's nuts putting people on the ballot without any vetting of the candidates and the constitutional question. I just couldn't believe it, when I found this Calero was a Nicaraguan.
You could put Fidel Castro on the ballot, just as well. And, he'd get some votes, too.
Wurzelbacher had glowing words, however, for GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, calling her "absolutely the real deal."
"You know, I only got to spend a short amount of time with her but, you know, it was been asked if I felt any presence when I was with John McCain or Barack Obama," he said. "You know, with Sarah Palin, I don't want to say I felt a presence but she definitely had energy and she definitely went to work for American people, and it disgusts me on how often they try to bash her just for her sincerity. It's just, you know, she really wants to work for America and I mean, I wish people would listen to her and let them, and let her work for us. You know, she wants to serve us. She's not looking for power."
Them's my sentiments exactly. I'd add, she's full of joy.
Many homeschoolers use textbooks like Biology for Christian Schools, which declares on its first page, "If [scientific] conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong, no matter how many scientific facts may appear to back them," and "Christians must disregard [scientific hypotheses or theories] that contradict the Bible."
God help those kids when they get out into the 2009-2010 job market.
Your obsession with "natural born" (heck why not define it as a person born in the US to second, or third, generation Americans?) is on par with your obsession over the "joy" you feel from Palin (kinda weird). There seems to be about 3 or 4 people who care about the intent of the constitution on this question. The SCOTUS certainly doesn't think it is a relevant issue for them to address.
Maybe you can get Obama impeached over sleazy Chicago politics (all the while pretending the rest of US politics are squeaky clean). Nope no Quid pro Quo involved....errr right. Ain't America grand?
Ash, someday a kid who was born in vitro will become a Democratic President, and the black-helicopter moonbats will file a lawsuit alleging test tube babies ain't natural born Americans.
You asked what was the problem with "I AM THAT I AM" and I suggested that only the folks who turned that into the unspeakable tetragrammaton have a problem with it. A name is only a sound, and a sound is not the ineffable Creator, it is only something that points.
I would think a kid unfamiliar with the socialization that occurs by being educated with their peers, who is taught a bible based view of the world where science is put behind faith will have trouble in the faced paced competitive world of this century. Mind you there will always be some church jobs to pursue.
But Jordanian political analyst Labib Kamhawi thinks Turkey is too close to the West to serve as a suitable location. It is seeking to join the European Union, a member of NATO and "is three-quarters in the West and only one quarter in the East.
I don't think that would be enough," he said.
Rather, he favors Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, the recognized guardian of the Islamic faith because it is home to the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca. A speech addressed to Muslims there would resonate across the Islamic world and deliver the message that America embraces Muslims, he said.
No. You said: God help those kids when they get out into the 2009-2010 job market.
I asked why?
Tes, I can tell you that some of the most logically rigorous minds you will ever meet, are those that study the Torah. These guys write software for Microsoft & Google, design logic circuits for Intel and IBM microprocessors, etc. In fact, if you've been following my argument with Bob over Paul Tarsus, one of the arguments presented is that Paul Tarsus is a Roman spy and an impostor pretending to be Jewish. One of the reasoning for this position, is the sloppy and non-rigorous argumentations Paul presents in his writings. Argumentations that would make any Pharisee blush with embarrassment over their shabbiness and logical incongruity.
I would think a kid unfamiliar with the socialization that occurs by being educated with their peers
Well you would Ash, never have a glimmer that perhaps one might not want to have a damn thing to do with the peers, but rather go one's own way, entering the dark forest there alone, or in two's and threes.
a bible based view of the world where science is put behind faith
This is really stupid in this day, when the major Christian denominations affirm the opposite. The problem is rather with an overbearing 'scientism'.
And when Ash, did the importance of a subject depend on the number interested in it? In the number of 'peers' interested in it?
It doesn't but when competing with many it is good to know, to have experience with 'them'. It is sorto like the argument that you will be a more original artist if you purposefully igonore the history of art - silly notion really.
is the sloppy and non-rigorous argumentations Paul presents in his writings.
I more or less agree with that, just can't get to the Roman spy part yet, but am working on it:)
I always used to get a kick out of quoting 1 Timothy 2: 8-15 to my wife. Would really piss her off. Though I don't think it was written by Paul at all.
President-elect Barack Obama's team to address climate change emerged on Wednesday as Democratic officials said he had chosen a Nobel laureate for U.S. energy secretary and was likely to pick an environmental veteran to serve as coordinator of climate policies.
...
A big challenge for Obama and Daschle will be extending health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and determining whether to reshape a system that is currently employer-based.
...
Some Republicans had used his middle name during the presidential campaign to suggest Obama was a Muslim, which he is not.
During the campaign, GOP head Jeff Frederick told a small group of Republican volunteers that "both Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden have friends that have bombed the Pentagon."
...
Even so, he stood by the comment Tuesday, defending it as true and saying he was taking cues from Republican John McCain's campaign after running mate Sarah Palin said Obama had been "palling around with terrorists."
"The McCain campaign, for quite a while, was getting on me about not being on message, about not delivering their talking points," Frederick said. "And in an effort to do more of what they wanted ... I was doing that, and the Ayers talking point came out."
I more or less agree with that, just can't get to the Roman spy part yet, but am working on it:) ==
Elementary my dear Watson. :)
One conclusion follows the other. We know he was lying about being a Pharisee and a Jew. We know he couldn't have possibly worked for the Temple authorities because these were Sadducees. So who was he working for? Why was he persecuting the early Christian Jewish sect? Where did the money for the writing material and all the globe trotting trips come from? How come all the connections with Roman authorities?
Filmmaker Victoria Barrett is taking viewers on a journey from the West Virginia hills to the mountains that cradled Christianity.
...
"I never worried about finishing it. The story is 2,000 years old, and it's not going to change," she said.
Barrett, president of Shenandoah Films, has 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She is the director and producer of the documentary film "Desperate Hours," about Turkish diplomacy on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust.
Chertoff sounds like the Mayor of Mesa, hiring illegals to clean city hall.
Cleaning Firm Used Illegal Workers at Chertoff Home
By Spencer S. Hsu Washington Post Staff Writer Thursday, December 11, 2008;
Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.
The company's owner says the workers sailed through the checks -- although some of them turned out to be illegal immigrants.
Now, owner James D. Reid finds himself in a predicament that he considers especially confounding. In October, he was fined $22,880 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators said he failed to check identification and work documents and fill out required I-9 verification forms for employees, five of whom he said were part of crews sent to Chertoff's home and whom ICE told him to fire because they were undocumented.
"Our people need to know," said the Montgomery County businessman. "Our Homeland Security can't police their own home. How can they police our borders?"
Reid admits he made mistakes but called the fine so excessive that it may put him out of business. ... Raising a common objection among employers as ICE cracks down on illegal hirings across the country, Reid said it is unreasonable to expect businesspeople to distinguish between fake and real driver's licenses and Social Security cards.
Immigration laws are unevenly enforced, he added, allowing big companies to stay in business while crushing small-business owners and workers. He said the rules punish "scapegoats" such as him while inviting people at every level -- customers, subcontractors and contractors -- to look the other way while benefiting economically from cheaper labor.
"No one wants to put the blame on the head; they'd rather put the blame on the business owner," said Reid, who owns Consistent Cleaning Services. "Damned if I should be fined for employees that I took over to their house."
Chertoff declined to comment. "We're very constrained in what we can say about anybody who has any kind of issue with the department," he said.
Tes, I can tell you that some of the most logically rigorous minds you will ever meet, are those that study the Torah. These guys write software for Microsoft & Google, design logic circuits for Intel and IBM microprocessors, etc. In fact, if you've been following my argument with Bob over Paul Tarsus, one of the arguments presented is that Paul Tarsus is a Roman spy and an impostor pretending to be Jewish. One of the reasoning for this position, is the sloppy and non-rigorous argumentations Paul presents in his writings. Argumentations that would make any Pharisee blush with embarrassment over their shabbiness and logical incongruity.
Follow the money...
after the traitor saul become Paul, or the spy paul did his dirty work, where did he flee to and under whose PROTECTION?
Rome...
Yep Paul...
the man responsible for changing the Jewish Message of that guy from Israel into a Message of eternal life and no rules for the pagans of Rome...
Certainly NOT a Jewish Mind...
At the time of the 2nd Temple's destruction the Elite Jewish Schools of Bavel still stood...
Mat's points about those Jews who are Torah trained is very true...
Sharp, logical, rational minds....
Paul and his visions?
Sloppy, emotional bullshit...
But that's what the vast majority of pagans at the time sought...
(Leo Donofrio-- I am looking into this. Damn. The readers of this blog are freakin good researchers. I don't know what it means that Scalia used this treatise, but you got my attention with this comment reader. Thank you. It's moved to the front of my list of research. If I think it's relevant, I may do a blog post on your comment today.]
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. DICK ANTHONY HELLER No. 07–290
JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court
“Other legal sources frequently used “bear arms” in nonmilitary contexts.”
E. de Vattel, The Law of Nations, or, Principles of the Law of Nature 144 (1792) (“Since custom has allowed persons of rank and gentlemen of the army to bear arms in time of peace, strict care should be taken that none but these should be allowed to wear swords”)
The Justice just said that this is a legal source. (it’s actually 176 not 144)
As you well know in this same book it defines “Natural Born Citizen”
With that being said and ruled on, does that mean “Natural Born Citizen” is now defined by the Supreme Court?
I'm learning a lot of stuff over at Leo's blog, Natural Born Citizen, quess I'm just obsessed.
... Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the country's parliament that Pakistan needed to follow up on its promises of action against militant groups. In the past, militants arrested in Pakistan have been released without trials. India has demanded that Islamabad dismantle all the militant outfits in Pakistan and hand over suspects who have been implicated in various attacks in India.
"They are banning organizations. Lashkar-i-Taiba was banned. But simply they are changing names, they are changing signboards," Mukherjee said. "Faces are the same, ideology are the same. How does it help us?"
The Indian officials spoke at a daylong parliamentary session that was focused on the Mumbai rampage and its implications for the two nuclear-armed rivals. Chidambaram said that South Asia is in "the eye of the storm of terror" and said it was not possible for India to "go back to business as usual."
"The finger of suspicion unmistakably points to the territory of our neighbor, Pakistan. We will strain every nerve to defend our borders," home minister Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram said India would create a Coastal Command to secure 4,650 miles of shoreline, set up 20 counter-terror schools, raise regional commando units, strengthen anti-terror laws and set up a national agency to investigate suspected terror activity. Security experts in India have long called for such an approach.
You are obsessed with trying to, somehow, anyway, prevent Obama from being POTUS and not very interested in Constitutional law other than how it pertains to your obsession.
... Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill from an American public that is rooting for his success in the face of bad economic times, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
The mood presents opportunities as well as perils for Mr. Obama, who confronts a series of challenges amid expectations he will handle them well.
Overall, a majority of Americans are confident in Mr. Obama's ability to govern and unify the country, with many who didn't vote for him now seeing him in a positive light. The poll found that 73% of adults approve of the way he is handling the transition and his preparations for becoming president.
The Supremes won't go down that accredidation trail, bob. Not before he is sworn in, fer sure. After that, it wouldn't matter, the House would not impeach him, the Senate would not convict him.
The Court would have no physical ability to remove him from office, not without deputies they do not have.
The Supremes, being practical Federals, will pass.
Nah, I'm just interested in it, Ash. Rat's right, they'll probably punt. But I think a close reading of the situation makes a good case that Obama has no business being President. WiO is right, we've lost something this year. Basically because of people like you.
Why do you think he won't show his records, Ash, just 'for the record'?
Damn, it's amazing really. Obama is up to his eyeballs in Chicago shit from his political day one, and some people buy into 'the new transparency' in government he was preaching.
No one cares, bob. The election is over 73% of the electorate support him, now. There was that WSJ/NBC poll and this one from the AP
WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- President-elect Barack Obama is getting high marks on his transition so far, with even most Republicans saying he's doing just fine.
Nearly three-quarters overall, or 73 percent, say they approve of the job Obama has done preparing to take office next month, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. The positive reaction is spread broadly across age, gender, income and racial lines, with 73 percent of whites _ a group Republican candidate John McCain carried on Election Day _ giving a thumbs up.
While 90 percent of Democrats approve of Obama's transition, so do 54 percent of Republicans. Only about one in 10 from the GOP voted for the Democrat Obama last month.
The American people do not care about Obama's past. Americans are, by nature, forward looking.
Why would he want to do that? Is it common practice for past presidents to publicly release their 2nd grade first term report cards?
Yeah rat, I saw that reference Bobal made to Bearing Arms not swords and shrugged my shoulders. bobal, are you suggesting E. de Vattel, The Law of Nations, or, Principles of the Law of Nature 144 (1792) is enshrined in the US constitution?
You are obsessed with trying to, somehow, anyway, prevent Obama from being POTUS and not very interested in Constitutional law other than how it pertains to your obsession. ==
Actually, that accusation can be turned on its head and directed against you, Ashley. You're not interested in the law, justice, or fairness, but rather in Obama as POTUS and Leftist Corruptokrats taking power. You dismissed voter fraud, even when it was blatantly obvious such has occurred. And you dismiss any rigorous inquiries and criticism of Obama past, even though such should be of the utmost priority in any normal democratic society.
WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will pull double duty in the Obama administration, where he will serve not only as the Health and Human Services secretary but also oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform.
A Democratic official familiar with the plans _ to be announced Thursday in Chicago _ said the additional appointment makes it clear that Daschle will coordinate efforts within the administration to overhaul the nation's health care system.
"He will be the White House's voice on this critical issue," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the development.
Jeanne Lambrew, who helped Daschle write a book about health care reform, will serve as deputy director of the new White House office. She also worked on health policy at the White House during the Clinton administration and currently serves as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
Not looking back to 1792, for a definition of a term, in a living document. It is an interesting phrasing, which most of US believe to mean born within one of the many States of the US. Some extending that meaning to include birth at US military installations and other various circumstances outside the US.
Not since 1792 has it been thought of, by the public, to include the parents' nationality. Maybe it'd matter in the United States of the Founders, but it'd be considered an abstract thought in today's America.
Read the below carefully and you will see that "natural born" is defined. Your buddies constitutional quest is to somehow show that definition is unconstitutional. I've been telling you the supremes won't even consider it because the issue is already settled. Even if I am wrong then Rat's point is a good one - it won't be decided until after Obama is POTUS in which case the issue will be moot with regard to his Presidency.
"If you're going to be involved in government in the United States, citizenship is a must. To be a Senator or Representative, you must be a citizen of the United States. To be President, not only must you be a citizen, but you must also be natural-born. Aside from participation in government, citizenship is an honor bestowed upon people by the citizenry of the United States when a non-citizen passes the required tests and submits to an oath.
Natural-born citizen
Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.
Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"
* Anyone born inside the United States * Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe * Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S. * Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national * Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year * Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21 * Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time) * A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.
Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example."
Wrong as usual mat. Obama has won already and most of those issues are moot. If there is evidence of criminal offenses committed by Obama that would not be moot otherwise moaning about his past associates, voter fraud, and Obama's birth status is tantamount to howling at the moon or jousting with windmills. Time to move forward and deal with policy issues of the day.
You know what is kind of funny? A long time ago I suggested here (well, pre-pajama’s) that we’ll have to get used to a nuclear Iran. There was much derision thrown about at the time and now, well here we are watching the early stages of it becoming official US policy. Another fine Bush legacy.
Honest to God! If that's you Ash, you've argued all along to rely on deterence etc. Now you're blaming Bush!
You were saying what a warmonger I was for advocating bombing them long ago, til they pip.
And you probably think the Israelis should disarm, and rely on us:)
Rely on us to avenge them, when they are all dead.
“#24, I hope you’re being facetious. This is an OBAMA idea, from the get-go. Bush’s policy has been no nukes in Iran, period.”
That is my point Indiana; he failed and we can debate the reasons why but the legacy of Bush II is that Iran has developed the capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon. Dec 11, 2008 - 9:55 am
Wrong as usual mat. Obama has won already and most of those issues are moot. ==
Yeah, that's it.
You've been peddling nonsense and jihadi propaganda since you've first appeared here. Why anyone here should still pay you any attention is beyond me. Maybe Bob can explain the entertainment value in still engaging with you, because I certainly don't see it anymore.
actually the legacy of Bush II regarding Iran is: to forego military action and implement the EU-style “multilateral” diplomatic strategy his domestic and international political opponents never stopped beating him over the head with before, during, and probably after Operation Iraqi Freedom - to implement such a strategy is to invite aggression and cede crucial initiative to your enemy. also cf. North Korea.
but thanks for playing, ash.
by the way, having spent the last 7 years or so harassing us with your anti-Bush wisdom, are you going to start affirmatively defending Obama’s policies for us or just switch to a generalized anti-USA tac? i ask out of mere curiosity.
So, it seems that even if he had been born in Kenya, he'd still be a 'natural born US citizen'.
If I'm reading the Law, correctly:
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
His mother was a US citizen, no doubt of that, and the alien nationality of the other parent is a moot point.
Rat, I think she would need have served militarily or diplomatically for that clause to apply.
Bobal,
why not leave it at BC and discuss there. Since you insist here is my response to dan
"42. ash:
I’m more interested in the policies than the person presenting them. I have thought Bush II to be a consistently bad ‘chess’ player. He made bad decisions. We shall see what Obama does. I’m not convinced that offering Israel shelter under our nuclear umbrella is in the US’s best interest though Ruby’s asserted caveat might make it a better offer than carte blanche protection. My concern is the US could be dragged into a nuclear exchange through ceding control of our actions to others. Israel, with such an assurance, may be more inclined to act in ways we think provocative and unjust."
As the Supremes have noted by their inaction, mat, there is not an active Federal issue, either. The testimony of the officials from Hawaii met the legal requirements in every legal birth challenge brought to the lower courts, to date. Obama and the various States have passed Constitutional muster.
That there is no "vault" copy of his birth certificate, just how Hawaii does it, in this brave new world.
The Hawaiians print a new copy, each time it is needed. It is not needed, now.
Advanced Energy Industries, (Nasdaq: AEIS) Closed at $9.14. Announced after market close that, in order to better align its cost structure with current market conditions, the company will reduce its global workforce by approximately 114 people or 7 percent of its total workforce.
This reduction will be across all functional areas and geographies; however the company remains committed to its product development strategy and remains focused on investing in key market opportunities. The company is also taking this opportunity to reconfirm its revenue guidance of $66 to $72 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.
What They Do: Advanced Energy® is a global leader in innovative power and control technologies for high-growth, thin-film manufacturing and solar power generation. Specifically, AE targets solar grid-tie inverters, solar cells, semiconductors, flat panel displays, data storage products, architectural glass and other advanced applications.
Mexico’s war against drug cartels continued in 2008. The mission President Felipe Calderon launched shortly after his inauguration two years ago to target the cartels has since escalated in nearly every way imaginable.
...
Mexico’s Drug-Trafficking Organizations
Gulf cartel:
As recently as a year ago, the Gulf cartel was considered the most powerful drug-trafficking organization in Mexico. After nearly two years of bearing the brunt of Mexican law enforcement and military efforts, however, it is an open question at this point whether the cartel is still intact.
Los Zetas:
During the past 12 months, Los Zetas have remained a power to be reckoned with throughout Mexico. The group operates under the command of Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano.
That there is no "vault" copy of his birth certificate, just how Hawaii does it, in this brave new world. ==
You've been neutered. Maybe not you personally, I don't know enough about you to say with certainty, but certainly Americans in general. This kind of Orwellian nonsense wouldn't pass in any other normal society, the streets would burn with discontent. But you know what they say, the people get the government they deserve.
The Zetas were originally members of the Mexican Army’s elite Airborne Special Forces Group (GAFE), trained in locating and apprehending drug cartel members. It is believed that they were originally trained at the military School of the Americas in the United States. Also, they were trained by foreign specialists, including Americans, French, and Israelis, in rapid deployment, aerial assaults, marksmanship, ambushes, small-group tactics, intelligence collection, counter-surveillance techniques, prisoner rescues and sophisticated communications.
In the late 1990s, the Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen, began to recruit GAFE members to provide protection and perform other vital functions. His top recruit, Lieutenant Arturo Guzmán Decena, brought with him approximately 30 other deserters enticed by salaries substantially higher than those paid by the Mexican government
Zeta training locations have been identified as containing the same items and setup as GAFE training facilities, it is also further believed the group employs the same internal organizational structure. Current estimates place Los Zetas around 200 members strong, which includes several rogue Kaibil Guatemalan forces. The name "Zeta" comes from the Federal Preventive Police radio code for high-ranking officers (wiki)
More interesting stuff from Natural Born Citizen--
vrajavala Says:
December 7, 2008 at 7:15 pm [Leo Donofrio-- Chester Arthur did some good things, was totally against slavery and fought against it. That's why it wasn't such a great feeling to expose the lies he told and that he wasn't a natural born citizen. He's a strange character in history, lots of good and some bad stuff too.]
wow Chester Arthur defended Elizabeth Jennings Graham who refused to get off a segregated streetcar in 1824. I thought Rosa Parks was the first case like that. He even won a settlement for her.
----
RJJohnson Says:
December 11, 2008 at 6:12 pm
[Leo Donofrio-- Here Here. Bravo reader, "principiis obsta" indeed. Man, you hit the nail on the head with this quote. It makes sense that Ben Franklin was into the "Laws of Nations" and it was consulted by the Framers.]
The following from the “Law of Nations” seems very relevant to the situation we have today with Obama’s elegibility. The gist is that the constitution is attacked gradually over time until “states have thus entirely changed their nature, and lost their original constitution.”
[quote]§ 30. Of the support of the constitution and obedience to the laws.
The constitution and laws of a state are the basis of the public tranquility, the firmest support of political authority, and a security for the liberty of the citizens. But this constitution is a vain phantom, and the best laws are useless, if they be not religiously observed: the nation ought then to watch very attentively, in order to render them equally respected by those who govern, and by the people destined to obey. To attack the constitution of the state and to violate its laws, is a capital crime against society; and if those guilty of it are invested with authority, they add to this crime a perfidious abuse of the power with which they are intrusted. The nation ought constantly to repress them with its utmost vigour and vigilance, as the importance of the case requires.
It is very uncommon to see the laws and constitution of a state openly and boldly opposed: it is against silent and gradual attacks that a nation ought to be particularly on its guard. Sudden revolutions strike the imaginations of men: they are detailed in history; their secret springs are developed. But we overlook the changes that insensibly happen by a long train of steps that are but slightly marked. It would be rendering nations an important service to show from history how many states have thus entirely changed their nature, and lost their original constitution. This would awaken the attention of mankind: — impressed thenceforward with this excellent maxim (no less essential in politics than in morals) principiis obsta, — they would no longer shut their eyes against innovations, which, though inconsiderable in themselves, may serve as steps to mount to higher and more pernicious enterprises. [/quote]
Mike Tieman Says:
December 11, 2008 at 6:24 pm [ed. I'll have a look, but I think that's relatively accepted. Thanks for the link.]
http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/384521
Has Leo commented on this case ?
Luria v. United States
Relevant quote being ………….
Under our Constitution, a naturalized citizen stands on an equal footing with the native citizen in all respects, save that of eligibility to the Presidency.
-----
Someone said, "Who could believe Obama is the only virgin in the whorehouse that is Chicago?" :)
In fact, the message it sends is that the ideas and ideals that made America unique in the world are no longer worth following, because in a one-world government, the United States would inevitably have to compromise its beliefs, laws, faith and everything else that makes it unique. European and Third World leaders would effectively be running the show.
Barack Obama was elected president of the United States, not president of a world order, or worse, one of many equals among one of many nations that are nothing special.
It's bad enough to have the Democratic Congress dictating to Detroit and borrowing money from the Chinese to keep automakers afloat, as they make cars fewer people want. It would be something far worse to have a world body pass laws that require Americans to live by standards they would never choose for themselves.
Scooter's revenge?
ReplyDeleteSame Fed Attn., Patrick J. Fitzgerald
Meanwhile in real news:
Office Depot to close 112 stores
Bizjournals.com - 28 minutes ago
Office Depot on Wednesday said it will close 112 underperforming retail stores in North America during the next three months. The announcement said the closures would occur in various geographic regions, including 45 in the central US, ...
Think he dyes that hair?
ReplyDeleteNot a speck of gray at 52.
Hard to believe that could be, but ...
GMAC at the brink
ReplyDeleteCNNMoney.com - 49 minutes ago
General Motors' finance unit is falling short of capital requirements it needs to become a bank holding company and access needed cash from the government.
...
Nortel Drops After WSJ Says It’s Exploring Bankruptcy Filing
Bloomberg - 1 hour ago
By Joe Schneider and Katie Hoffmann Dec. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Nortel Networks Corp. fell as much as 19 percent in early trading after the Wall Street Journal said the phone-equipment maker is exploring a possible bankruptcy filing.
A news report from CBS that seems unbiased, if the locals are accurate about the Chicago parts of Obama's past.
ReplyDeleteBlow dryed an' dyed, that hair.
ReplyDeleteOn this point, there is already some uncertainty.
"I had no contact with the governor or his office and so I was not aware of what was happening," Obama told reporters in the wake of Tuesday's indictment.
But soon after his statement, ABC's Jake Tapper posted video of a November 23 interview in which senior adviser David Axelrod said of Obama's involvement that "I know he's talked to the governor."
Later in the day, Axelrod claimed he was "mistaken" in the interview.
The scandal has also drawn attention to Obama's relationship with Blagojevich, which Obama's defenders say is tangential, while other evidence suggests otherwise.
In a July New Yorker article, reporter Ryan Lizza quotes Obama's chief of staff designate, Rahm Emanuel, as saying that he and Obama served as key advisers to Blagojevich in his run for governor, along with two other campaign staffers. "We basically laid out the general election, Barack and I and these two,” Emanuel said, according to the magazine.
Lizza goes on to write that "a spokesman for Blagojevich confirmed Emanuel’s account, although David Wilhelm, who now works for Obama, said that Emanuel had overstated Obama’s role. 'There was an advisory council that was inclusive of Rahm and Barack but not limited to them,' Wilhelm said, and he disputed the notion that Obama was 'an architect or one of the principal strategists.'"
What is clear is that Obama endorsed and campaigned for Blagojevich in 2002. In June of that year, he told Jeff Berkowitz, a local television interviewer, that his "main focus is to make sure that we elect Rod Blagojevich as governor," and when asked whether he was working hard for him, Obama responded, "you betcha."
Some of Obama's signature moves could be seen in Blagojevich's 2002 campaign: promising change and reform, tying his Republican opponent (Jim Ryan) to the unpopular Republican incumbent (George Ryan), and turning his unusual name into an asset and source of humor.
"How can you replace one Ryan with another Ryan and call that change?" Blagojevich asked at a rally that summer at the Illinois State Fair, according to an Associated Press account at the time. "You want change? Elect a guy named Blagojevich! Now that's change."
Obama also endorsed Blagojevich for reelection, even as the governor was embroiled in a controversy over hiring. "If the governor asks me to work on his behalf, I'll be happy to do it," Obama told the Chicago Daily Herald in July 2006.
Obama's past political support for Blagojevich should renew concerns about the incoming president's pattern of troubling associations, or at least, his willingness to look the other way in the face of wrongdoing if it's in his political interests at the time.
Am.Spectator
DR, I think you nailed it on the dye. My better half agrees with you, and she is something of an expert in identifying dyed hair, often commenting on the variations in tone of Alan Colmes awful dye job.
ReplyDeleteWhat gets me is the way he combs it down in his face like a 16 year old boy. Some serious marbles rolling around inside that skull.
Frankly, I hope and pray Obama never talked him. This nation doesn't need that now. We need a leader focused on solving our problems, not those of his own making.
Blogger desert rat said...
ReplyDelete"A few threads ago, we were discussing whether the US was a socialist State, or not.
ash providing the definition of socialism, then admitting the US fit it. My position that the increasingly socialist aspects of the Government had been planned and nutured. That both of the major political parties had contributed to the trend, at least since 1912.
Manufacturing was touted as one of the aspects of the economy that the Federals did not control, directly. Soon there'll be a Federal Car Czar. My how time flies."
Reminds me of this op-ed by Rick Salutin:
"How did this U.S. election come to be about socialism? I thought it was going to be about racism. Or war. But then the economic crisis erupted and ...
Let's start with this. Socialism is not defined by state intervention in an economy. All states intervene in the economy, the United States more than most. It busts open foreign markets, fights for global resources (such as oil), controls labour militancy, develops new products (such as the Internet), which it then hands off to business. Above all, its military spending fuels its economy, and has for generations. Bank bailouts fit like a hand in a glove.
Okay, what about "spreading the wealth"? Not socialism either, within clear limits. Larry King asked John McCain this week whether a graduated income tax isn't (a sort of socialist) redistribution. The McCain reply was: Yes it is and no it's not.
But whatever it is, socialism is in the air. A Florida news anchor quotes Karl Marx and asks Joe Biden whether Barack Obama is a Marxist. McCain-Palin call Obama-Biden "socialist." The Washington Post wants to know if capitalism is dead. Isn't it socialism that was supposed to be defunct? When did you last hear the "S-word"?
Probably circa 1989 and the fall of the Berlin Wall. For a century and a half before that, the capitalist world was "haunted" by a spectre - the spectre of socialism, or communism, as Marx and Engels called it in The Communist Manifesto of 1848. That spectre was embraced by radical unions, movements and parties, then by the Bolshevik Revolution and the Soviet Union, followed by socialist regimes in China, Vietnam, Cuba, Africa etc. Then, poof, they're all gone - yet the spectre is baaaack. How did it happen?
I'd say it's because it was never those socialists who kept the spectre of socialism alive. It was capitalism itself! Karl Marx wrote relatively little on socialism, just a few evocative hints in his callow (or not so callow) youth. But he exhausted himself analyzing capitalism. His argued that capitalism leads inevitably to crisis - a terse term for massive human wreckage - that leads inevitably to a search for better ways to organize economies, which will be, in some form, socialist. It's all dialectical as hell (Marx said), and if there's not a socialist in sight, capitalism will still continue to produce the spectre of socialism along with its nightmarish crises.
Since the spectre arises, yet there are now few regimes, leaders or theorists to give it voice, it's as if it seeks to channel itself, inhabiting any presence it can - like a dybbuk, the spirit of one person migrated into the body of another. So it speaks from the throats of John McCain, Sarah Palin, a Florida TV anchor, The Washington Post or Alan Greenspan, confessing he was mistaken about capitalism all his life.
And what is socialism? Well, Mr. Obama said this week that he expects to be called socialist because he shared his toys in kindergarten. It was a clever deflection of the charge but it's also a good start. Maybe the dybbuk speaks through him, too. Socialism is essentially social. It's based on a belief that we're responsible for and indebted to each other - including past generations. So sharing isn't a choice, it's our nature. Therefore, roughly speaking, everyone is equally entitled to basics such as jobs, homes, health and education - especially kids. State intervention in the service of that vision would count as socialism. There might be non-governmental forms, too. Eventually, the state might "wither away," as Marx said, but that mutual responsibility never would.
An Obama victory would be a stunning event, like Nelson Mandela's release from prison and election as South African president. I never expected to see either. On the other hand, I felt I had seen socialism and would see more of it - in Canada, for example. This has led to some disappointment, I admit, but it's also nice to have got it wrong, and know that future surprises still await us."
http://www.rabble.ca/columnists/election-socialism-without-socialist-sight
uugggg, a Car Czar! Brings to mind, again, the irony of those two NTTimes headlines of a couple of days ago:
"In Hard Times, Russia Moves In to Reclaim Private Industries"
and
"Detroit Bailout Is Set to Bring on More U.S. Oversight"
Why, JESSE!
ReplyDeleteSources Say Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. is 'Senate Candidate #5'
Feds Plan to Interview Chicago Congressman as Part of Blagojevich Probe
By BRIAN ROSS
December 10, 2008
SHARE Chicago Congressman Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL) is the anonymous "Senate Candidate #5" whose emissaries Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich reportedly claimed offered up to a million dollars to name him to the U.S. Senate, federal law enforcement sources tell ABC News.
The politician says he is not a target of the Blagojevich investigation.
According to the FBI affidavit in the case, Blagojevich "stated he might be able to cut a deal with Senate Candidate 5 that provided ROD BLAGOJEVICH" with something "tangible up front."
Jackson Jr. said this morning he was contacted yesterday by federal prosecutors in Chicago who he said "asked me to come in and share with them my insights and thoughts about the selection process."
Jackson Jr. said "I don't know" when asked if he was Candidate #5, but said he was told "I am not a target of this investigation."
Jackson Jr. said he agreed to talk with federal investigators "as quickly as possible" after he consults with a lawyer
The acorn don't fall far from the oak.
By the way, that's a piddling offer, $1 million dollars, for a United States Senate seat.
ReplyDeleteIn an open auction, they'd go for a lot more than that.
Misers, the Jackson's are.
If I were selling a Senate seat, I wouldn't even reply to an offer like that.
Opening bids should be about $10 million, at least, with some $$ added for a majority party seat.
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting watching some of the quid pro quo of US politics come to light. Wiretapping them all would be revelatory.
ReplyDeleteObama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall
ReplyDeleteBy MIKE McINTIRE and JEFF ZELENY
Published: December 9, 2008
"In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.
Tipped off to Mr. Blagojevich’s efforts, federal agents obtained wiretaps for his phones and eventually overheard what they say was scheming by the governor to profit from his appointment of a successor to the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama."
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/us/politics/10chicago.html?hp
Socialism is essentially social. It's based on a belief that we're responsible for and indebted to each other - including past generations. So sharing isn't a choice, it's our nature. Therefore, roughly speaking, everyone is equally entitled to basics such as jobs, homes, health and education - especially kids. State intervention in the service of that vision would count as socialism.
ReplyDeletein·debt·ed
1 : owing gratitude or recognition to another : beholden
2 : owing money
Outstanding use of doublespeak and doublethink by our tortured logicians of the Left.
Invisible forces compel us to give up our personal sovereignty. We have no choice because of our human nature. Our minds are not our own, but government compulsion / policy is needed to ensure that we indeed execute our unstoppable human nature. Is that what we are hearing?
I like the concept that the government seizing the fruits of your mind and body against your will to "share" with people that did NOTHING to help you earn them is the same thing as sharing your toys in kindergarten.
That's some good Alinsky shit right there.
A jackboot with a smiley face on the sole.
It is interesting, how poorly prepared the Democrats are. Here the Governor wants payment to him, or his wife, directly.
ReplyDeleteWhile the Repubs always seem to keep an arms length away.
McCain's campaign head, his company gets the payments, while he draws no salary. This placates the Press and kept McCain above and out of the fray.
But them Dems claim home office excemptions on entire foors of rent controlled residential housing, in NYCity. Which is an indictment of rent control, as much as anything else.
Wiretapping them all would be revelatory.
ReplyDeleteAnd shooting them all would be just.
At least, that's how I feel on a bad day.
Dante had such an exquisite scheme for placing all these folks in just the right spot in hell, right exactly where they deserved.
Oh, JESSE!
Somebody ought to come out with a good and humorous youtube video of a bunch of assholes biding at auction for a United States Senate seat.
ReplyDeleteWith someone trying to bribe the auctioneer, too, in the background.
Blogger Brother D-Day said...
ReplyDelete"Outstanding use of doublespeak and doublethink by our tortured logicians of the Left."
One goes through a similar doublespeak and doublethink when justifying the military from the right side of divide. You know, all for one, one for all and jack boots without the smiley face.
"Glengarry"--that sounds like a cheap wine.
ReplyDeleteYou were doing pretty good this morning, Ash, 'til that idiotic last post.
ReplyDeleteNother busy day, see you later.
here you go bobal
ReplyDeletehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcoyllcWSOc
actually, any political speech would do :D
The libertarian 'look out for yourself' goes right out the window once you organize a military hence the need for the similar doublethink ect.
ReplyDeleteThe whole thing just sounds a tad Roman, to my tin ear.
ReplyDeleteSelling Senate seats ....
It's not like the Presidency was For Sale, now is it?
Mr Rove wrote on 3Dec:
McCain Couldn't Compete With Obama's Money
America affirms Chicago's Golden Rule.
Implying that Obama having $300 million USD more to spend, than did McCain, provided the Big O an advantage.
America affirms Chicago's Golden Rule.
prophesy ...
I mean, come on guys, what should we have expected from the State that gave US Dan Rostenkowski
ReplyDeleteRostenkowski's political career was shattered in 1994, when he was indicted on corruption charges for his key role in the House post office scandal. He was forced to step down from all Congressional leadership positions. In elections later that year, Rostenkowski lost his seat and retired from political life. Charges against Rostenkowski included
keeping "ghost" employees on his payroll, using Congressional funds to buy gifts such as chairs and ashtrays for friends, and trading in officially purchased stamps for cash at the House post office[1].
In 1996, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges of mail fraud. He was fined and was sentenced to 17 months in prison, of which he served 15. Rostenkowski was pardoned in Dec. 2000 by US President Bill Clinton. (wiki)
Just another Chi-town star.
Traded in the spread on his subsidized postage stamps.
That's damn near as ghetto as it gets.
Here is a fun one from 2006, the picture has GW Bush holding the Dunkin' Donuts coffee cup, picture perfect.
ReplyDeleteSelling Out the Presidency
July 16th, 2006
March 2006 - Dunkin’ Donuts is acquired by the Carlyle Group and two other buyout firms. The Carlyle Group, headquartered on Pennsylvania Avenue between the White House and Capitol Hill, pays George’s daddy for public speeches promoting Carlyle interests.
The firm has many strong ties to the Washington establishment as well as to the Bin Ladens and to powerful politicians and businesspeople in Asia and the Middle East.
Carlyle’s massive investments in a range of weapons firms, oil corporations and media companies ensure it handsome profits from U.S. military incursions in the Middle East.
June 2006 - Dunkin’ Donuts publicizes a new plan to “rapidly expand to nearly 15,000 US locations by 2020,” according to the Boston Globe.
July 2006 - George W. Bush’s handlers arrange a photo opp at a Virginia Dunkin’ Donuts, where George passes out Dunkin’ Donuts products to reporters and carefully poses with the Dunkin’ Donuts logo in plain view.
So flogging Dunkin' Donuts is morally superior to re-sellin' postage stamps, that seems clear enough.
Wonder if how the $500,000 or $1,000,000 payment was going to be structured would make a difference. Contributions to a charitable foundation, that is always a arms length option.
A seat on a Board for the wife, that's pushing the envelope, but McCain advisor and past US Senator Phil Gramm, his wife sat on the Enron board, while Mr Gramm wrote laws that deregulated their industry. If Enron had not collapsed, it'd never have become an issue. As it was, it ended Mr Gramm's career.
O/T, but since this topic is near and dear to several regulars and at least one of the proprietors, I thought it worthy of a comment.
ReplyDeleteMexico: Growing Terror and Close to Collapse
By Douglas Farah (Counterterrorism Blog)
One of the most amazing things to me in the recent electoral process was the complete absence of serious discussion by either camp of anything relating to Latin America.
While Venezuela, Nicaragua, Bolivia and Ecuador have formed a new anti-U.S. and pro-Iranian axis, perhaps the most dangerous developments are taking place directly on our southern border. It is to the point where the Mexican government, despite commendable efforts by the Calderon administration, is barely hanging on.
I say this with deep sadness. I lived through the similar Colombian experience where the narco-violence shattered the country, almost took over the state, and claimed the lives of many of my friends, including journalists I worked with. That is part of the reason I cannot understand the lack of attention to the crisis.
We are looking at the creation of a series of mini narco-states along our border, and from our border heading south through Central America. Mexico's own southern border with Guatemala is now awash in cartel violence, and much of Guatemala is no longer under state control. El Salvador is a money laundering sanctuary, as is Panama, and Nicaragua, along with Venezuela, have become black holes where an increasing amount of cocaine transits.
This is a clear and present danger not only to the United States, which will (and already has) suffer from the spillover of violence and border security-but to the Mexican state as well.
The drug war there is taking an enormous toll. Even hospitals are no longer safe from the violence.
Senior police and government officials are assassinated with such frequency their deaths seldom make the news here at all. Some are killed because they are trying to do the right thing, some because they are on the losing side of an intra-cartel battle, but it is shredding the authority of the state.
Illegal immigration of non-Latin Americans, including Iranians, Chinese and Turks, is on the rise. Why does this matter? Because the cartels in their many different iterations and factions, thrive on instability, and their ability to move anything (drugs, people, weapons) across our border. Iranians and Turks arriving this way are not here to see the Empire State Building or the Grand Canyon. My full blog is here.
Mexico's bloody drug war
ReplyDeleteThe drug violence in Mexico rivals death tolls in Iraq.
By David Danelo
If you missed it in the last thread ...
It's worth the time to read it.
David J. Danelo is the author of "The Border: Exploring the U.S.-Mexican Divide" and "Blood Stripes: The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq."
It also seems obvious that no money had changed hands. Nothing had been sold and the details of the quid pro que had not been finalized. In so far as the Senate seat goes.
ReplyDeletePart of the funny stuff, I thought, was that he had not gotten the promised $50,000 from the hospital deal.
the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports that federal investigators “are looking into allegations that a longtime friend and benefactor tried to steer money to U.S. Sen. Norm Coleman [R-Minn.].” Coleman is currently embroiled in a grueling recount battle with Democratic challenger Al Franken, following last month’s general election.
ReplyDeleteAgents with the FBI have talked to or made efforts to talk to people in Texas familiar with the allegations, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Houston is where the first of two lawsuits was filed alleging Nasser Kazeminy, a Bloomington financier, tried to steer $100,000 to Coleman via his wife’s Minneapolis employer. The second suit, filed in Delaware, alleges Kazeminy initially tried to get money directly to the senator.
Both Coleman and Kazeminy have denied any wrongdoing, and Coleman last month said he welcomes an investigation.
Over at our sister site, The Minnesota Independent, Chris Steller sees some similarities between the allegations about Coleman and the charges being brought against Blagojevich.
In both cases, the charges are that illegal payoffs to the elected official would be masked as payment of work performed by the wife. The monetary amounts are in the same ballpark: Laurie Coleman’s company received $75,000 and was to be paid $25,000, while the salary proposed for Patricia Blagojevich ran as high as $150,000.
One difference: In the Colemans’ case, payments — which haven’t been shown to be illegal, and whose propriety Sen. Coleman has insisted on — were actually made, not just talked about during wiretapped conversations.
Coleman made the following statement about the report last night:
We are not aware of any investigation that is under way, nor have we been contacted by any agency with respect to this matter. As we have said repeatedly, we welcome any investigation of these lawsuits by the appropriate authorities to get to the bottom of these baseless, sleazy and politically inspired allegations.
We’ll be following these events, as well as any recount news, closely at The Minnesota Independent.
Do you have faith in the United States Supreme Court?
ReplyDeleteNick Says:
December 10, 2008 at 1:49 pm
[Ed. good research, Nick nice job.]
Leo
Earlier today on comment #3 above I posted about the potential influence of Clerks within SC.
In subsequent surfing I came across this article posted 12/9
It seems my earlier assumption is on point, and certainly something we all need to be aware…READ ATTACHED ARTICLE
Rehnquist 1957 Assertion That Clerks Influenced Supreme Court Borne Out by New Study
By Andrew Burt
Posted December 9, 2008
A new study published by the DePaul Law Review argues that Supreme Court justices’ legal opinions can be influenced by their clerks’ political views. The study cites a 1957 U.S. News article by William H. Rehnquist, then a former law clerk whose own ascension to the high court still lay 15 years in his future, in 1972 (and who would become chief justice in 1986).
In his piece, Rehnquist claimed that the political prejudices of clerks influenced what cases the court decided to hear. Then—as today—clerks briefed the justices on the cases that have reached the court. “The volume factor” of the cases justices must either grant or deny, as he described it, combined with the role clerks are assigned, gives the clerks a substantial amount of sway over the court. Rehnquist went on to describe the clerks’ prejudices as “leftist,” ascribing to them an “extreme solicitude for the claims of communists.”
Rehnquist’s arguments drew upon his own experience as a clerk for Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, and in so doing, broke “the code of silence” observed by former Supreme Court justices even today. The piece, it should go without saying, was controversial at the time.
Responding to the controversy, a more hesitant Rehnquist softened some of his previous claims in a second article for U.S. News. The arguments made in his original piece, he wrote, must await an “impartial study of the matter.”
More than 50 years later, the DePaul Law Review study appears to have corroborated Rehnquist’s claims.
Read the 1957 Rehnquist article.
Leo Donofrio has been relating how he and others have been jerked around by the clerks.
Latest From Donofrio's blog 'Natural Born Citizen'
That is sooo sad Bobal! Sad that you are reduced to moaning about the clerks shutting down your dreams of invalidating the Obama presidency.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the reference to that LAT article, DR. Startfor is also running a series on states in crisis - Mexico is the first one and they've published two parts thus far. I haven't had time to read them yet...
ReplyDeleteI too questions Fitz’s timing. Doesn’t one usually wait until an actual transaction has taken place? Bag of money handed over…wire sent or some such? What did his office have to lose by setting on this and listening in for another week or two? Perhaps he may have been concerned about catching too big of a fish. Considering the way he went after White House instead of DOS staff in the Plame game causes me a bit of concern regarding his political leanings. He could have very easily allowed the biding process to proceed but that would have of course implicated more democrats.
ReplyDeleteI know you don't follow these things Ash, but Donofrio is a Libertarian who voted for Ron Paul in the primaries, and his suit seeks to invalidate McCain, Obama, and Calero, none of whom were natural born citizens, in his view. Calero is a Nicaraguan, on the ballot in some states in the USA, we have become so sloppy. Berg is a democrat Hillary supporter. These folks are concerned about the Constitution, not a particular candidate, though they have all become convinced Obama is a fraud. The post above just referenced the gatekeeper problem at the court, which seems to have been in existence for sometime.
ReplyDeleteUN Blowback: More Than 650 International Scientists Dissent Over Man-Made Global Warming Claims
ReplyDeleteStudy: Half of warming due to Sun! –Sea Levels Fail to Rise? - Warming Fears in 'Dustbin of History'
POZNAN, Poland - The UN global warming conference currently underway in Poland is about to face a serious challenge from over 650 dissenting scientists from around the globe who are criticizing the climate claims made by the UN IPCC and former Vice President Al Gore. Set for release this week, a newly updated U.S. Senate Minority Report features the dissenting voices of over 650 international scientists, many current and former UN IPCC scientists, who have now turned against the UN. The report has added about 250 scientists (and growing) in 2008 to the over 400 scientists who spoke out in 2007. The over 650 dissenting scientists are more than 12 times the number of UN scientists (52) who authored the media hyped IPCC 2007 Summary for Policymakers.
The U.S. Senate report is the latest evidence of the growing groundswell of scientific opposition rising to challenge the UN and Gore. Scientific meetings are now being dominated by a growing number of skeptical scientists. The prestigious International Geological Congress, dubbed the geologists' equivalent of the Olympic Games, was held in Norway in August 2008 and prominently featured the voices and views of scientists skeptical of man-made global warming fears.
Interesting point Joe Buz. It prompted me to surf a bit. I came across:
ReplyDelete"Mr. Fitzgerald wanted to stop crimes in progress — among them the possibility that the governor would actually succeed in his alleged efforts to sell President-elect Barack Obama’s vacated Senate seat to the highest bidder. As a result, said Alison Siegler, the director of the Federal Criminal Justice Project at the University of Chicago School of Law, he used a tactic more frequently seen in the federal prosecutions of bank robbers and drug couriers than of political figures who have been subjects of long-standing criminal investigations."
There is more discussion of the case there
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/fitzgeralds-legal-strategy/?hp
Bobal, he, and you, are charging at windmills - three it seems from your last post.
ReplyDeletejoe, they also stuck this in and update
ReplyDelete"Update | 4:15 p.m.: Mr. Barkow writes in again to say that ending the investigation prematurely could harm the prosecution’s ability to make a larger case, by, for example, following up on calls recorded on the wiretap to investigate other people who might be implicated. Mr. Alschuler makes a similar argument. “It is a masterful job for law enforcement, but it does leave loose ends. They haven’t caught all the bad guys yet.”"
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/12/10/fitzgeralds-legal-strategy/?hp
Here Ash, this fellow's comment seems aimed at you---
ReplyDeleteglnolsn Says:
December 10, 2008 at 1:54 pm
It seems every time I read a rebuttal regarding the eligibility of the President in your case and Cort’s case, they seem to be in defense of Mr. Obama as to Eleanor Holmes Norton’s comment. Their statements would be more respectable if they would grasp and comment based on the overall content of the case and include Senator John McCain (and of course Callero). The case really deserves a broader understanding, consideration and view as to the eligibility of the President of the United States according to the U.S. Constitution. This has been an important factor for all past elections and now for this election and also needs to be recognized future elections. This case is just not about a single candidate.
----------
Old Japanese Proverb states:
“When the character of a man is not clear to you, look at his friends.”
A mirror reflects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.
(Proverbs 27: 19)
------------
I think Jesse Jackson Jr. is in a heap of trouble. And I bet the Illinois governor's sings, sings, sings.
Doubt Jesse Jr is in much trouble at all, bob. His folk discussed contributions to what, in exchange for the seat. Payments structured and delivered, how, by whom, when?
ReplyDeletePerhaps Mr Fritz has those answers, if not, I'd not be speakin' to the Feds, if I was Jr. Not after the experiences of Ms Stewart and Scooter Libby.
But, bob, when I mentioned that McCain was not qualified, as a 'Natural Born Citizen' since he was born in Panama, that was dismissed out of hand.
ReplyDeleteWhy there was a 'Sense of the Senate' resolution or some such that also over rode the Constitution provisions.
Or so I was told, way back then.
No, everyone was working hard to convince US a military hospital in the Canal Zone was naturally a part of America.
As to the Judges on the Supreme Court, their feet are made of clay, bob.
ReplyDeletePlace no faith in false idols.
This one is even funnier that the Dunkin' Donuts ...
ReplyDeleteDragging out his 15 minutes of fame, Joe the plumber had not-so-kind words for John McCain, who tried to make him a symbol of his differences with Democratic rival Barack Obama on taxes.
Samuel J. Wurzelbacher confronted Obama over his tax plans during an Ohio campaign stop, prompting Obama to say he wanted to "spread the wealth." McCain jumped on the remark, and invited Wurzelbacher to appear at rallies.
But Tuesday on the Glenn Beck radio show, Wurzelbacher bashed McCain for supporting the $700 billion bailout of the financial industry. McCain, in fact, suspended his campaign and threatened to skip the first presidential debate in September to return to Congress to try to shepherd the deal.
"When I was on the bus with him, I asked him a lot of questions about the bailout because most Americans did not want that to happen, yet he voted for it," Wurzelbacher said. "At the same time he's talking about how he's going to make somebody famous if they even think about putting pork in the bill? We all know how much pork was in the $700 billion bailout package. And why did he vote for it? And I asked him pretty direct questions and some of the answers you guys are going to receive, you know, they appalled me, absolutely. You know, I was angry. In fact, I wanted to get off the bus after I talked to him."
Joe knows best, aye?
Joe, the plumber wanna be, speaks out
ReplyDeleteHistorical Documents Prove Obama Ineligible To Become President
ReplyDeleteBut who cares about our history, or the meaning of words, or the Constitution these days?
------
As to the Judges on the Supreme Court, their feet are made of clay, bob
Alas, I'm afraid you are right.
No, everyone was working hard to convince US a military hospital in the Canal Zone was naturally a part of America.
I too had accepted that McCain was eligible based on that. I quess I thought there must have been a SCOTUS ruling on that.
Anyway, I think we need a court ruling to get it straight, but it's unlikely we will, and I think it's nuts putting people on the ballot without any vetting of the candidates and the constitutional question. I just couldn't believe it, when I found this Calero was a Nicaraguan.
You could put Fidel Castro on the ballot, just as well. And, he'd get some votes, too.
jeez
Wurzelbacher had glowing words, however, for GOP vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, calling her "absolutely the real deal."
ReplyDelete"You know, I only got to spend a short amount of time with her but, you know, it was been asked if I felt any presence when I was with John McCain or Barack Obama," he said. "You know, with Sarah Palin, I don't want to say I felt a presence but she definitely had energy and she definitely went to work for American people, and it disgusts me on how often they try to bash her just for her sincerity. It's just, you know, she really wants to work for America and I mean, I wish people would listen to her and let them, and let her work for us. You know, she wants to serve us. She's not looking for power."
Them's my sentiments exactly. I'd add, she's full of joy.
Man creates woman in his, more or less, own image, and not from a rib, either.
ReplyDeleteFem-Bot
She doesn't do sex---yet.
I bet that guy jacks off a lot.
ReplyDeleteMembers of the Oklahoma City Home School Robotics Team won second place at a competition in Fort Smith, Ark.
ReplyDelete...
Home school student Garrett Finnell, 18, said the experience has changed the course of his life.
Finnell said he now plans to major in mechanical engineering next year at Oklahoma Christian University.
Regional Contest
Winners were home schoolers, this year.
ReplyDeleteMany homeschoolers use textbooks like Biology for Christian Schools, which declares on its first page, "If [scientific] conclusions contradict the Word of God, the conclusions are wrong, no matter how many scientific facts may appear to back them," and "Christians must disregard [scientific hypotheses or theories] that contradict the Bible."
ReplyDeleteGod help those kids when they get out into the 2009-2010 job market.
Bobal,
ReplyDeleteYour obsession with "natural born" (heck why not define it as a person born in the US to second, or third, generation Americans?) is on par with your obsession over the "joy" you feel from Palin (kinda weird). There seems to be about 3 or 4 people who care about the intent of the constitution on this question. The SCOTUS certainly doesn't think it is a relevant issue for them to address.
Maybe you can get Obama impeached over sleazy Chicago politics (all the while pretending the rest of US politics are squeaky clean). Nope no Quid pro Quo involved....errr right. Ain't America grand?
God help those kids when they get out into the 2009-2010 job market.
ReplyDelete==
Why?
I AM THAT I AM.
ReplyDeleteWhat's the problem with that?
Ash, someday a kid who was born in vitro will become a Democratic President, and the black-helicopter moonbats will file a lawsuit alleging test tube babies ain't natural born Americans.
ReplyDeleteDunno Mat, my tribe isn't the one who turns that into an unpronouncable name.
ReplyDeleteAnd? What does a non-pronounceable name to do with the job market?
ReplyDeleteYou asked what was the problem with "I AM THAT I AM" and I suggested that only the folks who turned that into the unspeakable tetragrammaton have a problem with it. A name is only a sound, and a sound is not the ineffable Creator, it is only something that points.
ReplyDeleteI would think a kid unfamiliar with the socialization that occurs by being educated with their peers, who is taught a bible based view of the world where science is put behind faith will have trouble in the faced paced competitive world of this century. Mind you there will always be some church jobs to pursue.
ReplyDeleteBut Jordanian political analyst Labib Kamhawi thinks Turkey is too close to the West to serve as a suitable location. It is seeking to join the European Union, a member of NATO and "is three-quarters in the West and only one quarter in the East.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that would be enough," he said.
Rather, he favors Riyadh, capital of Saudi Arabia, the recognized guardian of the Islamic faith because it is home to the Muslim holy cities of Medina and Mecca. A speech addressed to Muslims there would resonate across the Islamic world and deliver the message that America embraces Muslims, he said.
Obama Reaches Out
No. You said: God help those kids when they get out into the 2009-2010 job market.
ReplyDeleteI asked why?
Tes, I can tell you that some of the most logically rigorous minds you will ever meet, are those that study the Torah. These guys write software for Microsoft & Google, design logic circuits for Intel and IBM microprocessors, etc. In fact, if you've been following my argument with Bob over Paul Tarsus, one of the arguments presented is that Paul Tarsus is a Roman spy and an impostor pretending to be Jewish. One of the reasoning for this position, is the sloppy and non-rigorous argumentations Paul presents in his writings. Argumentations that would make any Pharisee blush with embarrassment over their shabbiness and logical incongruity.
I would think a kid unfamiliar with the socialization that occurs by being educated with their peers
ReplyDeleteWell you would Ash, never have a glimmer that perhaps one might not want to have a damn thing to do with the peers, but rather go one's own way, entering the dark forest there alone, or in two's and threes.
a bible based view of the world where science is put behind faith
This is really stupid in this day, when the major Christian denominations affirm the opposite. The problem is rather with an overbearing 'scientism'.
And when Ash, did the importance of a subject depend on the number interested in it? In the number of 'peers' interested in it?
It doesn't but when competing with many it is good to know, to have experience with 'them'. It is sorto like the argument that you will be a more original artist if you purposefully igonore the history of art - silly notion really.
ReplyDeleteis the sloppy and non-rigorous argumentations Paul presents in his writings.
ReplyDeleteI more or less agree with that, just can't get to the Roman spy part yet, but am working on it:)
I always used to get a kick out of quoting 1 Timothy 2: 8-15 to my wife. Would really piss her off. Though I don't think it was written by Paul at all.
President-elect Barack Obama's team to address climate change emerged on Wednesday as Democratic officials said he had chosen a Nobel laureate for U.S. energy secretary and was likely to pick an environmental veteran to serve as coordinator of climate policies.
ReplyDelete...
A big challenge for Obama and Daschle will be extending health insurance coverage to millions of uninsured Americans and determining whether to reshape a system that is currently employer-based.
...
Some Republicans had used his middle name during the presidential campaign to suggest Obama was a Muslim, which he is not.
Energy Team
The mystery deepens. Chester "The Constitutional Molester" Arthur's papers go Missing
ReplyDeleteOn the scene report from the Library of Congress.
Educational Cartoon
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of Calvin and Hobbes!
ReplyDeleteThey've got a good thread over at BC--Obama vs Osama.
ReplyDeleteI'll take Osama in about the fourth round.
During the campaign, GOP head Jeff Frederick told a small group of Republican volunteers that "both Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden have friends that have bombed the Pentagon."
ReplyDelete...
Even so, he stood by the comment Tuesday, defending it as true and saying he was taking cues from Republican John McCain's campaign after running mate Sarah Palin said Obama had been "palling around with terrorists."
"The McCain campaign, for quite a while, was getting on me about not being on message, about not delivering their talking points," Frederick said. "And in an effort to do more of what they wanted ... I was doing that, and the Ayers talking point came out."
Stupid but True
I more or less agree with that, just can't get to the Roman spy part yet, but am working on it:)
ReplyDelete==
Elementary my dear Watson. :)
One conclusion follows the other. We know he was lying about being a Pharisee and a Jew. We know he couldn't have possibly worked for the Temple authorities because these were Sadducees. So who was he working for? Why was he persecuting the early Christian Jewish sect? Where did the money for the writing material and all the globe trotting trips come from? How come all the connections with Roman authorities?
Filmmaker Victoria Barrett is taking viewers on a journey from the West Virginia hills to the mountains that cradled Christianity.
ReplyDelete...
"I never worried about finishing it. The story is 2,000 years old, and it's not going to change," she said.
Barrett, president of Shenandoah Films, has 20 years of experience in the entertainment industry. She is the director and producer of the documentary film "Desperate Hours," about Turkish diplomacy on behalf of Jews during the Holocaust.
Turkish Christian History
"both Barack Obama and Osama bin Laden have friends that have bombed the Pentagon."
ReplyDelete]:0)
Hadn't really thought of it quite like that, but does seem true enough.
Mat, I got to get to bed early tonight. I'll sleep on that. Night, Mat and Sam.
Nite, Bob.
ReplyDeleteG'nite Bob.
ReplyDeleteHere, have a good Laugh at the Governor's expense.
ReplyDeleteJanet will not be so stupid, believe you me.
ReplyDeleteChertoff sounds like the Mayor of Mesa, hiring illegals to clean city hall.
Cleaning Firm Used Illegal Workers at Chertoff Home
By Spencer S. Hsu
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, December 11, 2008;
Every few weeks for nearly four years, the Secret Service screened the IDs of employees for a Maryland cleaning company before they entered the house of Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff, the nation's top immigration official.
The company's owner says the workers sailed through the checks -- although some of them turned out to be illegal immigrants.
Now, owner James D. Reid finds himself in a predicament that he considers especially confounding. In October, he was fined $22,880 after U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigators said he failed to check identification and work documents and fill out required I-9 verification forms for employees, five of whom he said were part of crews sent to Chertoff's home and whom ICE told him to fire because they were undocumented.
"Our people need to know," said the Montgomery County businessman. "Our Homeland Security can't police their own home. How can they police our borders?"
Reid admits he made mistakes but called the fine so excessive that it may put him out of business.
...
Raising a common objection among employers as ICE cracks down on illegal hirings across the country, Reid said it is unreasonable to expect businesspeople to distinguish between fake and real driver's licenses and Social Security cards.
Immigration laws are unevenly enforced, he added, allowing big companies to stay in business while crushing small-business owners and workers. He said the rules punish "scapegoats" such as him while inviting people at every level -- customers, subcontractors and contractors -- to look the other way while benefiting economically from cheaper labor.
"No one wants to put the blame on the head; they'd rather put the blame on the business owner," said Reid, who owns Consistent Cleaning Services. "Damned if I should be fined for employees that I took over to their house."
Chertoff declined to comment. "We're very constrained in what we can say about anybody who has any kind of issue with the department," he said.
Tes, I can tell you that some of the most logically rigorous minds you will ever meet, are those that study the Torah. These guys write software for Microsoft & Google, design logic circuits for Intel and IBM microprocessors, etc. In fact, if you've been following my argument with Bob over Paul Tarsus, one of the arguments presented is that Paul Tarsus is a Roman spy and an impostor pretending to be Jewish. One of the reasoning for this position, is the sloppy and non-rigorous argumentations Paul presents in his writings. Argumentations that would make any Pharisee blush with embarrassment over their shabbiness and logical incongruity.
ReplyDeleteFollow the money...
after the traitor saul become Paul, or the spy paul did his dirty work, where did he flee to and under whose PROTECTION?
Rome...
Yep Paul...
the man responsible for changing the Jewish Message of that guy from Israel into a Message of eternal life and no rules for the pagans of Rome...
Certainly NOT a Jewish Mind...
At the time of the 2nd Temple's destruction the Elite Jewish Schools of Bavel still stood...
Mat's points about those Jews who are Torah trained is very true...
Sharp, logical, rational minds....
Paul and his visions?
Sloppy, emotional bullshit...
But that's what the vast majority of pagans at the time sought...
John Boy Says:
ReplyDeleteDecember 11, 2008 at 4:07 am
(Leo Donofrio-- I am looking into this. Damn. The readers of this blog are freakin good researchers. I don't know what it means that Scalia used this treatise, but you got my attention with this comment reader. Thank you. It's moved to the front of my list of research. If I think it's relevant, I may do a blog post on your comment today.]
Leo, You should take a look at this.
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/07pdf/07-290.pdf
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, ET AL., PETITIONERS v. DICK ANTHONY HELLER No. 07–290
JUSTICE SCALIA delivered the opinion of the Court
“Other legal sources frequently used “bear arms” in nonmilitary contexts.”
E. de Vattel, The Law of Nations, or, Principles of the Law of Nature 144 (1792) (“Since custom has allowed persons of rank and gentlemen of the army to bear arms in time of peace, strict care should be taken that none but these should be allowed to wear swords”)
The Justice just said that this is a legal source. (it’s actually 176 not 144)
As you well know in this same book it defines “Natural Born Citizen”
With that being said and ruled on, does that mean “Natural Born Citizen” is now defined by the Supreme Court?
I'm learning a lot of stuff over at Leo's blog, Natural Born Citizen, quess I'm just obsessed.
...
ReplyDeleteIndian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee told the country's parliament that Pakistan needed to follow up on its promises of action against militant groups. In the past, militants arrested in Pakistan have been released without trials. India has demanded that Islamabad dismantle all the militant outfits in Pakistan and hand over suspects who have been implicated in various attacks in India.
"They are banning organizations. Lashkar-i-Taiba was banned. But simply they are changing names, they are changing signboards," Mukherjee said. "Faces are the same, ideology are the same. How does it help us?"
The Indian officials spoke at a daylong parliamentary session that was focused on the Mumbai rampage and its implications for the two nuclear-armed rivals. Chidambaram said that South Asia is in "the eye of the storm of terror" and said it was not possible for India to "go back to business as usual."
"The finger of suspicion unmistakably points to the territory of our neighbor, Pakistan. We will strain every nerve to defend our borders," home minister Chidambaram said.
Chidambaram said India would create a Coastal Command to secure 4,650 miles of shoreline, set up 20 counter-terror schools, raise regional commando units, strengthen anti-terror laws and set up a national agency to investigate suspected terror activity. Security experts in India have long called for such an approach.
Candace Rondeaux and Rama Lakshmi
Washington Post Foreign Service
Thursday, December 11, 2008; 10:24 AM
You are obsessed with trying to, somehow, anyway, prevent Obama from being POTUS and not very interested in Constitutional law other than how it pertains to your obsession.
ReplyDeleteBut, America, does not give a hoot, bob.
ReplyDeleteWSJ reports
... Obama is entering the White House with an enormous reservoir of goodwill from an American public that is rooting for his success in the face of bad economic times, a new Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll finds.
The mood presents opportunities as well as perils for Mr. Obama, who confronts a series of challenges amid expectations he will handle them well.
Overall, a majority of Americans are confident in Mr. Obama's ability to govern and unify the country, with many who didn't vote for him now seeing him in a positive light. The poll found that 73% of adults approve of the way he is handling the transition and his preparations for becoming president.
The Supremes won't go down that accredidation trail, bob.
Not before he is sworn in, fer sure. After that, it wouldn't matter, the House would not impeach him, the Senate would not convict him.
The Court would have no physical ability to remove him from office, not without deputies they do not have.
The Supremes, being practical Federals, will pass.
Nah, I'm just interested in it, Ash. Rat's right, they'll probably punt. But I think a close reading of the situation makes a good case that Obama has no business being President. WiO is right, we've lost something this year. Basically because of people like you.
ReplyDeleteWhy do you think he won't show his records, Ash, just 'for the record'?
An old tome from 1792 wouldn't hold any interest for a modern man like Ash.
ReplyDeletegeewhillickers, that was a long time ago
Which records are you referring to?
ReplyDeleteDamn, it's amazing really. Obama is up to his eyeballs in Chicago shit from his political day one, and some people buy into 'the new transparency' in government he was preaching.
ReplyDeleteBlogo, Obama was one of his first backers.
All his records, from his birth through college and law school to his time in the Illinois government. All of it.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNo one cares, bob.
ReplyDeleteThe election is over
73% of the electorate support him, now.
There was that WSJ/NBC poll and this one from the AP
WASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- President-elect Barack Obama is getting high marks on his transition so far, with even most Republicans saying he's doing just fine.
Nearly three-quarters overall, or 73 percent, say they approve of the job Obama has done preparing to take office next month, according to a new Associated Press-GfK poll. The positive reaction is spread broadly across age, gender, income and racial lines, with 73 percent of whites _ a group Republican candidate John McCain carried on Election Day _ giving a thumbs up.
While 90 percent of Democrats approve of Obama's transition, so do 54 percent of Republicans. Only about one in 10 from the GOP voted for the Democrat Obama last month.
The American people do not care about Obama's past. Americans are, by nature, forward looking.
Why would he want to do that? Is it common practice for past presidents to publicly release their 2nd grade first term report cards?
ReplyDeleteYeah rat, I saw that reference Bobal made to Bearing Arms not swords and shrugged my shoulders. bobal, are you suggesting E. de Vattel, The Law of Nations, or, Principles of the Law of Nature 144 (1792) is enshrined in the US constitution?
You are obsessed with trying to, somehow, anyway, prevent Obama from being POTUS and not very interested in Constitutional law other than how it pertains to your obsession.
ReplyDelete==
Actually, that accusation can be turned on its head and directed against you, Ashley. You're not interested in the law, justice, or fairness, but rather in Obama as POTUS and Leftist Corruptokrats taking power. You dismissed voter fraud, even when it was blatantly obvious such has occurred. And you dismiss any rigorous inquiries and criticism of Obama past, even though such should be of the utmost priority in any normal democratic society.
You should be looking forward, to this, bob.
ReplyDeleteWASHINGTON (Associated Press) -- Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle will pull double duty in the Obama administration, where he will serve not only as the Health and Human Services secretary but also oversee a new White House Office of Health Reform.
A Democratic official familiar with the plans _ to be announced Thursday in Chicago _ said the additional appointment makes it clear that Daschle will coordinate efforts within the administration to overhaul the nation's health care system.
"He will be the White House's voice on this critical issue," said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the development.
Jeanne Lambrew, who helped Daschle write a book about health care reform, will serve as deputy director of the new White House office. She also worked on health policy at the White House during the Clinton administration and currently serves as a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank.
Not looking back to 1792, for a definition of a term, in a living document. It is an interesting phrasing, which most of US believe to mean born within one of the many States of the US.
Some extending that meaning to include birth at US military installations and other various circumstances outside the US.
Not since 1792 has it been thought of, by the public, to include the parents' nationality.
Maybe it'd matter in the United States of the Founders, but it'd be considered an abstract thought in today's America.
Bobal,
ReplyDeleteRead the below carefully and you will see that "natural born" is defined. Your buddies constitutional quest is to somehow show that definition is unconstitutional. I've been telling you the supremes won't even consider it because the issue is already settled. Even if I am wrong then Rat's point is a good one - it won't be decided until after Obama is POTUS in which case the issue will be moot with regard to his Presidency.
"If you're going to be involved in government in the United States, citizenship is a must. To be a Senator or Representative, you must be a citizen of the United States. To be President, not only must you be a citizen, but you must also be natural-born. Aside from participation in government, citizenship is an honor bestowed upon people by the citizenry of the United States when a non-citizen passes the required tests and submits to an oath.
Natural-born citizen
Who is a natural-born citizen? Who, in other words, is a citizen at birth, such that that person can be a President someday?
The 14th Amendment defines citizenship this way: "All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside." But even this does not get specific enough. As usual, the Constitution provides the framework for the law, but it is the law that fills in the gaps.
Currently, Title 8 of the U.S. Code fills in those gaps. Section 1401 defines the following as people who are "citizens of the United States at birth:"
* Anyone born inside the United States
* Any Indian or Eskimo born in the United States, provided being a citizen of the U.S. does not impair the person's status as a citizen of the tribe
* Any one born outside the United States, both of whose parents are citizens of the U.S., as long as one parent has lived in the U.S.
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year and the other parent is a U.S. national
* Any one born in a U.S. possession, if one parent is a citizen and lived in the U.S. for at least one year
* Any one found in the U.S. under the age of five, whose parentage cannot be determined, as long as proof of non-citizenship is not provided by age 21
* Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
* A final, historical condition: a person born before 5/24/1934 of an alien father and a U.S. citizen mother who has lived in the U.S.
Anyone falling into these categories is considered natural-born, and is eligible to run for President or Vice President. These provisions allow the children of military families to be considered natural-born, for example."
http://www.usconstitution.net/consttop_citi.html
Wrong as usual mat. Obama has won already and most of those issues are moot. If there is evidence of criminal offenses committed by Obama that would not be moot otherwise moaning about his past associates, voter fraud, and Obama's birth status is tantamount to howling at the moon or jousting with windmills. Time to move forward and deal with policy issues of the day.
ReplyDelete24. ash:
ReplyDeleteYou know what is kind of funny? A long time ago I suggested here (well, pre-pajama’s) that we’ll have to get used to a nuclear Iran. There was much derision thrown about at the time and now, well here we are watching the early stages of it becoming official US policy. Another fine Bush legacy.
Honest to God! If that's you Ash, you've argued all along to rely on deterence etc. Now you're blaming Bush!
You were saying what a warmonger I was for advocating bombing them long ago, til they pip.
And you probably think the Israelis should disarm, and rely on us:)
Rely on us to avenge them, when they are all dead.
Wife is calling, we're heading to
ReplyDeleteSpokane for the day. Take care, argue like hell....
if you want to argue it here bobal:
ReplyDelete"34. ash:
29. Indiana Joe:
“#24, I hope you’re being facetious. This is an OBAMA idea, from the get-go. Bush’s policy has been no nukes in Iran, period.”
That is my point Indiana; he failed and we can debate the reasons why but the legacy of Bush II is that Iran has developed the capacity to deliver a nuclear weapon.
Dec 11, 2008 - 9:55 am
35. ash:
It happened on his watch."
Wrong as usual mat. Obama has won already and most of those issues are moot.
ReplyDelete==
Yeah, that's it.
You've been peddling nonsense and jihadi propaganda since you've first appeared here. Why anyone here should still pay you any attention is beyond me. Maybe Bob can explain the entertainment value in still engaging with you, because I certainly don't see it anymore.
But, before I go, I just can't help myself---
ReplyDelete39. dan:
actually the legacy of Bush II regarding Iran is: to forego military action and implement the EU-style “multilateral” diplomatic strategy his domestic and international political opponents never stopped beating him over the head with before, during, and probably after Operation Iraqi Freedom - to implement such a strategy is to invite aggression and cede crucial initiative to your enemy. also cf. North Korea.
but thanks for playing, ash.
by the way, having spent the last 7 years or so harassing us with your anti-Bush wisdom, are you going to start affirmatively defending Obama’s policies for us or just switch to a generalized anti-USA tac? i ask out of mere curiosity.
So, it seems that even if he had been born in Kenya, he'd still be a 'natural born US citizen'.
ReplyDeleteIf I'm reading the Law, correctly:
Any one born outside the United States, if one parent is an alien and as long as the other parent is a citizen of the U.S. who lived in the U.S. for at least five years (with military and diplomatic service included in this time)
His mother was a US citizen, no doubt of that, and the alien nationality of the other parent is a moot point.
So, it seems that even if he had been born in Kenya, he'd still be a 'natural born US citizen'.
ReplyDelete==
If the guy was born in Kenya, to say otherwise is to commit criminal fraud. Felons can't be POTUS.
Rat, I think she would need have served militarily or diplomatically for that clause to apply.
ReplyDeleteBobal,
why not leave it at BC and discuss there. Since you insist here is my response to dan
"42. ash:
I’m more interested in the policies than the person presenting them. I have thought Bush II to be a consistently bad ‘chess’ player. He made bad decisions. We shall see what Obama does. I’m not convinced that offering Israel shelter under our nuclear umbrella is in the US’s best interest though Ruby’s asserted caveat might make it a better offer than carte blanche protection. My concern is the US could be dragged into a nuclear exchange through ceding control of our actions to others. Israel, with such an assurance, may be more inclined to act in ways we think provocative and unjust."
We're out the door, now.
ReplyDeleteHere NBC
Enjoy the day, Bob.
ReplyDeleteNegotiating with the Treat Williams (sorta) lookalike for that empty Senate Seat at any time in the last few weeks = bad idea.
ReplyDeleteOh, and common felons certainly can become President, mat. A criminal past is not a disqualifier for the position, per se.
ReplyDeleteNot if they garner the support of the electors.
Besides the Hawaiians maintain his birth records, in their electronic data base. There being all the proof that the many and various States required.
It's irrelevant what the various states requirements are. This is a federal matter, and one of the highest importance.
ReplyDeleteIsrael and China Build Israel's Biggest Solar Power Plant
ReplyDeletehttp://greenprophet.com/2008/12/11/4930/israel-china-solar-power/
As the Supremes have noted by their inaction, mat, there is not an active Federal issue, either. The testimony of the officials from Hawaii met the legal requirements in every legal birth challenge brought to the lower courts, to date.
ReplyDeleteObama and the various States have passed Constitutional muster.
That there is no "vault" copy of his birth certificate, just how Hawaii does it, in this brave new world.
The Hawaiians print a new copy, each time it is needed. It is not needed, now.
Advanced Energy Industries, (Nasdaq: AEIS) Closed at $9.14. Announced after market close that, in order to better align its cost structure with current market conditions, the company will reduce its global workforce by approximately 114 people or 7 percent of its total workforce.
ReplyDeleteThis reduction will be across all functional areas and geographies; however the company remains committed to its product development strategy and remains focused on investing in key market opportunities. The company is also taking this opportunity to reconfirm its revenue guidance of $66 to $72 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.
What They Do: Advanced Energy® is a global leader in innovative power and control technologies for high-growth, thin-film manufacturing and solar power generation. Specifically, AE targets solar grid-tie inverters, solar cells, semiconductors, flat panel displays, data storage products, architectural glass and other advanced applications.
Small Cap Stocks to Watch
Mexico’s war against drug cartels continued in 2008. The mission President Felipe Calderon launched shortly after his inauguration two years ago to target the cartels has since escalated in nearly every way imaginable.
ReplyDelete...
Mexico’s Drug-Trafficking Organizations
Gulf cartel:
As recently as a year ago, the Gulf cartel was considered the most powerful drug-trafficking organization in Mexico. After nearly two years of bearing the brunt of Mexican law enforcement and military efforts, however, it is an open question at this point whether the cartel is still intact.
Los Zetas:
During the past 12 months, Los Zetas have remained a power to be reckoned with throughout Mexico. The group operates under the command of Heriberto “El Lazca” Lazcano.
War Against the Cartels
That there is no "vault" copy of his birth certificate, just how Hawaii does it, in this brave new world.
ReplyDelete==
You've been neutered. Maybe not you personally, I don't know enough about you to say with certainty, but certainly Americans in general. This kind of Orwellian nonsense wouldn't pass in any other normal society, the streets would burn with discontent. But you know what they say, the people get the government they deserve.
The Zetas were originally members of the Mexican Army’s elite Airborne Special Forces Group (GAFE), trained in locating and apprehending drug cartel members. It is believed that they were originally trained at the military School of the Americas in the United States. Also, they were trained by foreign specialists, including Americans, French, and Israelis, in rapid deployment, aerial assaults, marksmanship, ambushes, small-group tactics, intelligence collection, counter-surveillance techniques, prisoner rescues and sophisticated communications.
ReplyDeleteIn the late 1990s, the Gulf Cartel leader Osiel Cardenas Guillen, began to recruit GAFE members to provide protection and perform other vital functions. His top recruit, Lieutenant Arturo Guzmán Decena, brought with him approximately 30 other deserters enticed by salaries substantially higher than those paid by the Mexican government
Zeta training locations have been identified as containing the same items and setup as GAFE training facilities, it is also further believed the group employs the same internal organizational structure. Current estimates place Los Zetas around 200 members strong, which includes several rogue Kaibil Guatemalan forces. The name "Zeta" comes from the Federal Preventive Police radio code for high-ranking officers
(wiki)
A Help Wanted Banner by Los Zetas
"los zetas" Views: 1,184,169
Mexican Army soldiers Vs Gulf Cartel gun men in Michoacan
Tijuana Shoot Out
More interesting stuff from Natural Born Citizen--
ReplyDeletevrajavala Says:
December 7, 2008 at 7:15 pm
[Leo Donofrio-- Chester Arthur did some good things, was totally against slavery and fought against it. That's why it wasn't such a great feeling to expose the lies he told and that he wasn't a natural born citizen. He's a strange character in history, lots of good and some bad stuff too.]
wow Chester Arthur defended Elizabeth Jennings Graham who refused to get off a segregated streetcar in 1824. I thought Rosa Parks was the first case like that. He even won a settlement for her.
----
RJJohnson Says:
December 11, 2008 at 6:12 pm
[Leo Donofrio-- Here Here. Bravo reader, "principiis obsta" indeed. Man, you hit the nail on the head with this quote. It makes sense that Ben Franklin was into the "Laws of Nations" and it was consulted by the Framers.]
The following from the “Law of Nations” seems very relevant to the situation we have today with Obama’s elegibility. The gist is that the constitution is attacked gradually over time until “states have thus entirely changed their nature, and lost their original constitution.”
[quote]§ 30. Of the support of the constitution and obedience to the laws.
The constitution and laws of a state are the basis of the public tranquility, the firmest support of political authority, and a security for the liberty of the citizens. But this constitution is a vain phantom, and the best laws are useless, if they be not religiously observed: the nation ought then to watch very attentively, in order to render them equally respected by those who govern, and by the people destined to obey. To attack the constitution of the state and to violate its laws, is a capital crime against society; and if those guilty of it are invested with authority, they add to this crime a perfidious abuse of the power with which they are intrusted. The nation ought constantly to repress them with its utmost vigour and vigilance, as the importance of the case requires.
It is very uncommon to see the laws and constitution of a state openly and boldly opposed: it is against silent and gradual attacks that a nation ought to be particularly on its guard. Sudden revolutions strike the imaginations of men: they are detailed in history; their secret springs are developed. But we overlook the changes that insensibly happen by a long train of steps that are but slightly marked. It would be rendering nations an important service to show from history how many states have thus entirely changed their nature, and lost their original constitution. This would awaken the attention of mankind: — impressed thenceforward with this excellent maxim (no less essential in politics than in morals) principiis obsta, — they would no longer shut their eyes against innovations, which, though inconsiderable in themselves, may serve as steps to mount to higher and more pernicious enterprises. [/quote]
Mike Tieman Says:
December 11, 2008 at 6:24 pm
[ed. I'll have a look, but I think that's relatively accepted. Thanks for the link.]
http://www.altlaw.org/v1/cases/384521
Has Leo commented on this case ?
Luria v. United States
Relevant quote being ………….
Under our Constitution, a naturalized citizen stands on an equal footing with the native citizen in all respects, save that of eligibility to the Presidency.
-----
Someone said, "Who could believe Obama is the only virgin in the whorehouse that is Chicago?" :)
More Transparency Around 'The Office Of The President Elect'
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the message it sends is that the ideas and ideals that made America unique in the world are no longer worth following, because in a one-world government, the United States would inevitably have to compromise its beliefs, laws, faith and everything else that makes it unique. European and Third World leaders would effectively be running the show.
ReplyDeleteBarack Obama was elected president of the United States, not president of a world order, or worse, one of many equals among one of many nations that are nothing special.
It's bad enough to have the Democratic Congress dictating to Detroit and borrowing money from the Chinese to keep automakers afloat, as they make cars fewer people want. It would be something far worse to have a world body pass laws that require Americans to live by standards they would never choose for themselves.
Act Globally?
Interesting talk (in the second half f the podcast) by columnist author and military historian Gwynne Dyer on climate change and resulting wars:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ecoshock.net/eshock08/ES_081212_Show_LoFi.mp3
Emanuel Had Multiple Conversations With Blagojevich About Senate Seat
ReplyDeleteWell of course he did.
It's all part of the "new transparency".
12:57 seems to be a dead link down here in Idaho, Mat.
ReplyDeleteHmmm,..
ReplyDeleteTry here:
http://www.ecoshock.org/2008/12/four-horsemen-cars-coal-climate-war.html