COLLECTIVE MADNESS


“Soft despotism is a term coined by Alexis de Tocqueville describing the state into which a country overrun by "a network of small complicated rules" might degrade. Soft despotism is different from despotism (also called 'hard despotism') in the sense that it is not obvious to the people."

Saturday, July 31, 2010

The US Constitution and Arizona Against Barack Hussein Obama

This video shows one trail going into Arizona. It shows the outrageous assault on the sovereignty of Arizona and The United States of America. It is an affront to the integrity to the rule of law and an assault against the property and safety of all law abiding American citizens. It is condoned by elected representatives of The United States of America, abetted by a dishonest shill of a media and the sanctimonious corruption of liberal academia and thought police. Most of all it is damning proof against the alleged American that occupies the throne of privilege in the White Palace, proof of his dereliction of duty.

Our ruler and master, Barack Hussein Obama, the people's choice, has intentionally shopped and found a compliant federal judge to further the legal charade against the people of Arizona and The United States of America, who only ask for existing US law to be enforced.

While her ladyship Michelle goes off to Spain with her federally financed entourage to hold court in thirty rooms and suites in a Spanish luxury hotel, this same trail will host a few hundred more invaders of US territory.

Lady Michelle recovering from her recent vacation in Maine needs a break to prepare for the Obama's upcoming vacation in Martha's Vineyard. All the while a battalion of thousands of federal secret service will be guarding the American royals and yet not one federal marshal will be on this trail.

If this does not make your blood boil, you need to get to a hospital for a transfusion.

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HAT TIP: Allen


ONLY the US Supreme Court has Constitutional Authority to Conduct the Trial
Canada Free Press
By Publius Huldah Thursday, July 29, 2010
Does anyone read the U.S. Constitution these days? American lawyers don’t read it. Federal Judge Susan R. Bolton apparently has never read it. Same goes for our illustrious Attorney General Eric Holder. But this lawyer has read it and she is going to show you something in Our Constitution which is as plain as the nose on your face.

Article III, Sec. 2, clause 2 says:

In all Cases affecting Ambassadors, other public Ministers and Consuls, and those in which a State shall be Party, the supreme Court shall have original Jurisdiction. In all the other Cases before mentioned, the supreme Court shall have appellate Jurisdiction…

“Original” jurisdiction means the power to conduct the “trial” of the case (as opposed to hearing an appeal from the judgment of a lower court). You all know quite well what a “trial” is - you see them all the time on TV shows: Perry Mason, Boston Legal, The Good Wife, etc. Witnesses testify and are cross-examined, etc.

The style of the Arizona case shows quite clearly that the named defendants are:

State of Arizona; and Janice K. Brewer,
Governor of the State of Arizona, in her
Official Capacity, Defendants.

Judge Susan R. Bolton has no more authority to preside over this case than do you
See where it says, “State of Arizona”? And “Janice K. Brewer, Governor of the State of Arizona, in her official Capacity”? THAT (plus Art. III, Sec. 2, clause 2) is what gives the US Supreme Court “original Jurisdiction”, i.e., jurisdiction to conduct the trial of this case. THAT is what strips the federal district court of any jurisdiction whatsoever to hear this case. Judge Susan R. Bolton has no more authority to preside over this case than do you (unless you are a US Supreme Court justice).

In Federalist No. 81 (13th para), Alexander Hamilton commented on this exact provision of Art. III, Sec. 2, clause 2:

...Let us now examine in what manner the judicial authority is to be distributed between the supreme and the inferior courts of the Union. The Supreme Court is to be invested with original jurisdiction, only “in cases affecting ambassadors, other public ministers, and consuls, and those in which A STATE shall be a party.” Public ministers of every class are the immediate representatives of their sovereigns. All questions in which they are concerned are so directly connected with the public peace, that, as well for the preservation of this, as out of respect to the sovereignties they represent, it is both expedient and proper that such questions should be submitted in the first instance to the highest judicatory of the nation. Though consuls have not in strictness a diplomatic character, yet as they are the public agents of the nations to which they belong, the same observation is in a great measure applicable to them. In cases in which a State might happen to be a party, it would ill suit its dignity to be turned over to an inferior tribunal….[boldface added, caps in original]

Yet Attorney General Eric Holder filed the case in a court which is specifically stripped of jurisdiction to hear it!

So! Counsel for the State of Arizona should consider:

1. File a Petition for Removal before federal district court Judge Susan R. Bolton demanding that the case be removed to the Supreme Court on the ground that under Art. III, Sec. 2, clause 2, US Constitution, only the Supreme Court has jurisdiction to conduct the trial of this case.

2. If Judge Bolton denies the Petition for Removal, file a Petition for Writ of Mandamus in the Supreme Court asking that court to order Judge Bolton to transfer the case to the Supreme Court.

A Petition for Writ of Mandamus is an old common-law “extraordinary writ”: It asks a court to ORDER a lower court or other public official to something which it is its duty to do. In Kerr v. US District Court for Northern District of California (1976), the Supreme Court said, respecting the propriety of issuing writs of mandamus:

....the fact still remains that “only exceptional circumstances amounting to a judicial ‘usurpation of power’ will justify the invocation of this extraordinary remedy.”...(para 13)

When a federal district court judge presides over a case which the Constitution specifically prohibits her from hearing, and even issues a ruling enjoining the enforcement of a State Law, then that federal district court judge usurps power. She is specifically stripped - by Art. III, Sec. 2, clause 2 - of jurisdiction to preside over the case against the STATE of Arizona and against THE GOVERNOR of the STATE of Arizona.

For procedures for filing the Petition for Writ of Mandamus, see Supreme Court Rule 20.

Article IV, Sec. 4, requires the federal government to protect each of the States against invasion.Not only is the Obama regime refusing to perform this specific Constitutional duty - it seeks to prohibit the Sovereign STATE of Arizona from defending itself! This lawlessness on the part of the Obama regime is unmatched in the history of Our Country.




93 comments:

  1. If Arizona is serious about upholding this law, why the theatrics in the wrong theater?

    As a state, Arizona automatically has standing before the Supreme Court. Why has Arizona failed to appear before its Justice and demand that the order of the lower court be vacated?

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  2. See, Melody, I can be lighted hearted as my call for vacation shows.

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  3. Because it is political theater, here, allen.

    It is not a serious effort to put a law into effect or to affect any real change in Federal policies.

    It is local politics that developed some unexpected national consequences.

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  4. DR,

    Re: political theater

    By Jove!!!!!! This is something upon which we can agree.

    It is theatre of the lowest sort. It will become tragedy. You will know that has happened when there is blood on the street.

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  5. Interesting that in Deuce's link, one of the pieces, by Mark Krikorian describes:

    "Obama's open-borders approach to immigration"

    What total bull shit.

    It is not Obama's "policy" but FEDERAL policy.

    It was GW Bush's policy.
    Much more so than it is Obama's.

    Obama has increased the number of Border Patrol and National Guard on the frontier. He has done MUCH MORE than Mr Bush ever did, to try to police that border.

    That the numbers are ineffective, in 'sealing' that border, a problem in Federal employee performance.

    But Mr Mark Krikorian totally misleads the reader, for partisan purposes. While the description of the porous border is accurate, the source of the policy is not.

    That the politicos in AZ are not serious, exemplified by AZ going to the Ninth Circuit to appeal Judge Bolton's ruling, rather than directly to the Supremes.

    A foul tasting pudding.

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  6. Allen, you should always be light hearted as if vacation calls you everyday. It's good for the soul. You should try it.

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  7. The "Open Border Policy", it is Republican in its' basis, at its' core.

    Always has been.
    Still is.

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  8. Obama is the President, now, Rat. You, yourself, have said that the buck stops at the top. Obama owns it now, buddy, regardless of who did what before. Holder is Obama's handpicked Attorney General...George Bush isn't suing Arizona. Obama is.

    If you can't see the flaws in the Obama Administration, you better get your vision checked.

    George Bush is no longer President. Move on.

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  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  10. That does not wash. There is complete democratic control of the entire US government. There has been for over a year and a half.

    Obama commands his Praetorian guard, numbered in the thousands to take him and his family to Maine, Spain, Martha's Vineyard and to tie up NYC so that he can sit on the sofa with the gals on the View.

    Obama can stop that invasion at any time. He is on watch.

    Forget George Bush. He is history. His bleeding compassionate heart is by now a murmur.

    We know that the two shit bird Republican Senators from Arizona, both voted for the Clintonian federal judge.

    Here is where we are. The American people can stop this. If they do, they can reverse much of the damage.
    The big problem is the courts. The courts will thwart the will of the people at whim and will. They can be humbled. It will take numbers, passion and demonstrable anger to get their attention. Shock and awe.

    Will it happen? I doubt it. The testosterone has been milked out of most of them. More than likely they will simply wimp their fat asses into the future.

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  11. He does own it whit, and there has never been more enforcement on that border, than there is now.

    The crime rates are DOWN along the border and all across AZ, the influx is DOWN, while not stopped.

    The real challenge is the 20 million undocumented that arrived in the country during the Bush tenure, not what is happening along the border.

    The border debate is way behind the reality curve.
    The "Open Border", that was the issue, before 20 million folks took US up on our invitation to come to the United States and work.

    It no longer is the prime mover of the immigration challenge. Border security is being addressed, ineffectively, perhaps, but more now than ever before.

    It is not the primary problem, the 20 million folks living and working in the US in that "grey zone". Without drivers licenses or auto liability insurance, that is the problem, now.

    That is now the primary challenge.
    To remove those 20 million from our midst, would not only be costly, financially, but would greatly reduce the freedoms the rest of US take for granted.

    Federal audits of everyone that employees a human being and pays them over $600 per year would be required.

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  12. And in that last 18 months enforcement along the frontier HAS INCREASED.

    There are more Border Patrolmen and more National Guard there now than ever before.

    The crime rates are DOWN.

    The primary problem is now longer on the border, it is at Tyson Chicken.

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  13. You are closing the door to the barn, after the horse has gone.

    Way behind the curve.

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  14. It seems the timing of this suit and how it was filed is pretty much irrelevant when looking at the big picture. It will most likely eventually end up in the Supreme Court anyway since it's a matter of state’s rights. Whether that happens now or a couple months from now seems like small potatoes in a legal sense.

    I don't see the basis for arguing that AZ is not serious about the issue strictly on the basis of where they chose to file the appeal.

    Obama has achieved his political objective already in filing for the injunction even though he would have had a stronger case if they had waited until they had an actual case of illegal profiling to base it on. I assume he chose to do it now because there are other lawsuits already filed and he wanted to make sure it was his administration that got the credit with the desire constituency before the election.

    That being said, I suspect this will be the high point in this debate politically for the president. There are three month before the election and I expect public condemnation of the Fed's action will only grow in that time.

    Blaming AZ, gee, kinda sounds like a conspiracy theory to me.



    .

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  15. I think if we wanted to, we can show them how to close the door.

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  16. Deuce will have to be audited, buy ICE, to ensure his house keeper is in the country legally.

    Anyone that hires a day worker, under 1070, has to ensure that they are here legally.
    Or face fines and imprisonment.

    How do you do that?
    Farmer Market used the Federal system and 1/3 of its' workers were authorized to work by that system, but were here illegally.

    How do I ensure that the fella trimming my palm trees is here in the US legally?

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  17. That';s the point, Deuce, Obama is shutting the door.

    He is doing the 'right thing', like it or not.

    The problem is no longer on the border.
    It is in Arkansas, New York and Illinois.

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  18. The very threat of Arizona requiring information sent, according to the press, many of them packing.

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  19. "The crime rates are DOWN along the border and all across AZ, the influx is DOWN, while not stopped."

    Short term changes in arrest rates and the number of immigrants crossing mean nothing. They are as much a matter of the business cycle in the U.S. as anything else.

    Likewise, arrest rates are as much a matter of enforcement decisions as they are of the incidence of crime.

    .

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  20. Six years ago, the center of the challenge was on the border.
    The problem has grown, since then.

    It no longer is on the frontier, but in the heartland.

    The solution will not be found on the border. Not now.

    The entire border debate, a day late, dollar short.

    Obama is addressing the problem, more so than any other President ever has, in the past decade or two.

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  21. The American public has to ask, do I want an illegal immigrant, pardoned and then have my vote cancelled by one of them?

    Do I want to have whatever social benefits that I pay for to become a joint account with someone that has paid little or nothing?

    Do I want my real estate taxes to increase so that I can help educate someone else's children?

    Do I want another round of cities and towns to be gutted by the lowlifes that are the camp followers of the illegals?

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  22. That's true Q, but there is little other statistical evidence to use.

    The influx has declined, the spew is being controlled, for whatever the reason.

    The problem is no longer on the border, but in the heartland, which is why, after six years of discussing it, here and at the BC, it has become a major issue.

    The center of the problem has shifted, away from the frontier and into the heartland.

    Welcome to the Americas.

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  23. Those are not border issues, Deuce, but heartland issues.

    The answer is not on the border, not any more.

    You're way late to the party.

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  24. The spew is being capped, the clean-up is now what is at issue.

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  25. The border is still porous and yes, there is still a problem in the interior.

    Crime may be down on the border but whether this is due to the economy or border enforcement is questionable. Television reports of local law enforcement being overwhelmed by immigrants and under supported by the Feds don't exactly inspire confidence in the Obama administration.

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  26. AZ's SB1070 is a "clean-up" attempt, not an effort to control the border.

    That is where the challenge, now.

    What to do with the 20 million already here.

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  27. But that was all happening before, whit.

    For whatever reason, the influx is down, enforcement is up, by the numbers.

    Credit Obama for that. Even if the cause is poor economic conditions here, that's a condition we've blamed Obama for.

    If those poor economic conditions have slowed the influx, that's to Obama's credit, if the poor economy is laid at his desk, too.

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  28. It is particularly galling that the Feds under Obama are considering rules and policy changes to effectively extend amnesty (with privileges and benefits) to illegals.

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  29. Obama is hiring more Federal employees, to do audits and police the border.

    Both have been decried here.
    Complaints about hiring 50,000 auditors were expressed, here, by you whit.

    Complaints of hiring ever more Federals, about that everyone has chimed in.

    Work place enforcement means Federal audits of employers.
    All employers.

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  30. The Pentagon Brass Wants to know if they missed anything on PFC Manning

    The US Army intelligence analyst, who is half British and went to school in Wales, appeared to sink into depression after a relationship break-up, saying he didn't "have anything left" and was "beyond frustrated".

    In an apparent swipe at the army, he also wrote: "Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment," and quoted a joke about "military intelligence" being an oxymoron.

    Mr Manning, 22, who is currently awaiting court martial, is suspected of leaking more than 90,000 secret military documents to the Wikileaks website in a security breach which US officials claim has endangered the lives of serving soldiers and Afghan informers.

    Supporters claim the war logs leak exposed civilian deaths in Afghanistan which had been covered up by the military, and Mr Manning's family, who live in Pembrokeshire, said he had "done the right thing".

    The Pentagon, which is investigating the source of the leak, is expected to study Mr Manning’s background to ascertain if they missed any warnings when he applied to join the US Army. The postings on his Facebook page are also likely to form part of the inquiry.

    Mr Manning, who is openly homosexual, began his gloomy postings on January 12, saying: "Bradley Manning didn't want this fight. Too much to lose, too fast."

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  31. But that was all happening before, whit.

    Move on.

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  32. "If those poor economic conditions have slowed the influx, that's to Obama's credit, if the poor economy is laid at his desk, too."

    Kind of a backhanded compliment rat, but I can't argue the point.


    :)

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  33. {...} Our National Defense Team

    “Some people are saying that Bradley was a trouble-maker but he was anything but. He was just an introverted kid who loved computers and was fired up politically.”
    Scott Lewis, a former classmate, said: "He was a bit hot-headed. If there was something he didn't agree with, he spoke up about it."
    Other school contemporaries recalled him as a computer “nerd” who had a difficult relationship with his father.
    Jenna Morris, a 23-year-old sales manager who went on holiday to Disney World in Florida with Bradley and his cousins, said: “He was a quiet lad and he’d had a tough upbringing.
    “His parents had an acrimonious divorce. He didn’t get on well with his dad; they had quite a volatile relationship. His dad was very strict and shouted at him a lot.
    “He had a tough time when he came back here with his mum because moving to another country after a break-up was hard. He was quite a loner and he didn’t really have a lot of friends. He had quite a bit of trouble at school and was picked on, but he didn’t care.”
    James Kirkpatrick, who became friendly with him through their shared interest in computers, said: “I last contacted him about six months ago. He didn’t mention anything about what was happening, but at the same time he did seem a bit secretive, he was being a bit paranoid about what we spoke about on the net.
    “He wouldn’t mention anything about what he was doing in the army and what he thought of it.”
    Pictures on Mr Manning's Facebook page include photos of him on school trips during his time in Wales and at a gay rights rally, where he is holding up a placard demanding equality on "the battlefield".

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  34. And if $600 dollars per annum becomes the 1099 threshold, that means audits for just about every American.

    Especially if AZ's SB1070 is the model that the Federals were to use.

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  35. That man passed a national security background check.
    I guess $708 billion just doesn't go as far as it used to.

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  36. I don't give a crap about Bradley's emotional makeup or background, I say the lockup the little bastard for a long, long time.

    I hope they get the Australian ass wad too.

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  37. "The Pentagon, which is investigating the source of the leak, is expected to study Mr Manning’s background to ascertain if they missed any warnings when he applied to join the US Army. "

    Hmm. Let me see.


    "Bradley Manning is not a piece of equipment,"

    "Bradley Manning didn't want this fight. Too much to lose, too fast."

    The fact that the guy kept referring to himself in the third person might have been some type of clue.



    (Although his comment about military intelligence would indicate he was not completely around the bend.)



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  38. Do you spend $600 per year at the dry cleaners?

    If so you will be responsible for checking upon their immigration status.

    Sending a 1099 to the Federals and the dry cleaner while ensuring that the workers are legal, there.

    Be careful what you wish for.

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  39. Do you spend $600 per year at the dry cleaners?

    If so you will be responsible for checking upon their immigration status.


    Thank You! President Obama.

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  40. Obama failed to acknowledge government’s role in oil spill
    By: Rob Bluey
    Special to The Examiner
    07/29/10 11:49 AM EDT
    President Obama’s carefully scripted scheme to deflect blame for the Gulf oil spill is starting to crumble. A new report from the Center for Public Integrity puts the White House in the spotlight for its failure to acknowledge the government’s own role in the Deepwater Horizon disaster.
    Obama has repeatedly blamed BP for the spill, telling the nation in a televised Oval Office address on June 15: “We will make BP pay for the damage their company has caused.” A day later he pressured BP to set aside $20 billion to pay economic damage to the region.
    But in the critical first days after the explosion, the new report reveals the U.S. Coast Guard disregarded its own firefighting policy and might have caused the oil rig to sink -- prompting the leak that resulted in the largest oil spill in U.S. history.
    Evidence unearthed by reporters Aaron Mehta and John Solomon shows the cash-strapped Coast Guard broke its own rules and didn't have a firefighting expert on the scene to oversee the private boats battling the blaze. There's an ongoing investigation to determine if the salt water sprayed on the burning oil rig caused it to sink.
    "[T]he question of what caused the platform to collapse into the Gulf ... remains unanswered and could prove vital to ongoing legal proceedings and congressional investigations," the article states. "That is because the riser pipe from which the majority of BP’s oil spewed did not start leaking until after the rig sank."
    These new details raise serious questions for the White House, which has repeatedly pinned the blame on BP. If it turns out the Coast Guard is at fault -- either because it didn't follow proper procedures or couldn't respond adequately because of a lack of resources -- the public has a right to know why we're just now learning this information 100 days after the disaster began.
    The crippling budget cuts President Obama proposed for the Coast Guard also deserve a closer examination. Obama's spending plan reduced the blue water fleet by a full one-third, slashed 1,000 personnel, five cutters, and several aircraft, including helicopters. According to the Center for Public Integrity, the Coast Guard updated its official maritime rescue manual -- advising against firefighting aboard a rig -- just seven months before the Deepwater Horizon explosion. That change in policy came at a time when Adm. Thad Allen warned the budget cuts threatened to turn the Coast Guard into a "hollow force."
    An earlier report from Mehta and Solomon also raised important questions that the White House has yet to answer about what Obama knew when. That investigation revealed the White House timeline of events failed to acknowledge an oil leak until four days after the explosion, even though the Coast Guard's timeline reported a leak one day after the explosion.

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  41. Chevy Volt? Mustang GT? Chevy Volt? Mustang GT? It's a tough one.

    "On today's just-for-fun itinerary: I'm prowling for open, winding lanes where the V-8 can have its torque-mad way with the world. Under full throttle, the brand-new 5.0-liter motor sounds like Zeus hurling thunderbolts, channeling 412 horsepower and 390 pound-feet of torque.

    Years ago it was inconceivable to have so much power at such a bargain price. This base coupe has more kick than the original V-10-powered Dodge Viper or a Ferrari 360 Modena.

    The sound is bright, raw, delicious.

    As for gas mileage, the V-8 manages 17 city and 26 highway and can be run on regular gasoline rather than premium with a slight reduction in power...



    Mustang GT Takes on European Competition

    .

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  42. Well, whit, you were the one that told me AZ's SB1070 was a "good" law.

    It requires you to check the immigration status of anyone you employ.

    If you are required to provide a 1099 to all the folk that provide contract labor or services, at a $600 threshold, then you've obviously employed them.

    Under AZ's SB1070, you are responsible for checking their status.

    You think that's "good".

    I think it is disaster in the making.

    That was not, I do believe, one of the provisions that Judge Bolton vacated.

    Fancy that.

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  43. SB 1070 does not even provide a threshold of $600.
    Oh no, it includes day labor, so $80, even less, is all it takes to make YOU responsible, under law, to check their status.

    With penalties if you do not, or are misled by the contract laborer.

    Pure insanity.

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  44. Q, the first sixty thousand people, or so, will get a, I think it is, $7,500.00 "tax credit." GM's playing this deal with the intention of dropping the price Six, or Seven thousand after the end of the credit. I think this is too "cute" by half, but that's what they're doing.

    Look, a lot of people that would have been buying 2 gallons of gasoline/day will, now, be buying virtually NO gasoline. When, not if, the price of gasoline gets back up to $4.00 or $5.00/gal that will become a Major Thing.

    GM has handled the "pricing" on this rollout poorly, in My opinion. However, this technology still has the potential of being a "game changer."

    We'll just have to wait, and see.

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  45. Deuce: I guess $708 billion just doesn't go as far as it used to.

    Defense spending as a percentage of GDP is well within norms.

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  46. The Arizona law makes it a misdemeanor to knowingly hire an unauthorized alien except that it becomes a felony if you knowingly employ more than six.

    You just said earlier that the problem was not at the border but rather elsewhere. Elsewhere includes the business community. SB 1070 goes after some of the schizophrenia and hypocrisy. It also draws attention to the need for a sane, comprehensive, enforced immigration policy.

    Sometimes I wonder if you are the same Rat that complained about the dismal pay for skilled framers.

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  47. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  48. Sorry, T. I completely misread your chart.

    More coffee.

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  49. It's amazing how likely you are to see what you "expect" to see. Even when it makes no sense at all.

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  50. Sometimes I wonder if you are the same Rat that complained about the dismal pay for skilled framers.

    I say that because at one time, there was some question about others posting comments under the name of Desert Rat.

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  51. Remember that English Skunk David Cameron lecturing everyone about Turkey? How awful and beastly the Europeans and Israel were to Turkey:

    In Turkey, the chilling face of domestic abuse.

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  52. Interesting, you'd never know by listening to the news:

    Sure, real GDP growth has slowed from 5% to 3.7% to 2.4% over the last three quarters, but following the 2001 recession real GDP slowed even more, from 3.5% to 2.1% to 2% to 0.1%. And looking at the average growth over the four quarters following the last three recessions, the average 3.18% real GDP growth over the last year was higher than the 1.93% following the 2001 recession and higher than the 2.63% following the 1990-1991 recession. Keep in mind that the economic recovery that started in 1991 was the longest (120 months) and strongest economic expansion in the history of the U.S.

    Carpe Diem Blog

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  53. The "Big Boys" are projecting GDP growth to slow even more this quarter. I'm kinda thinking they're wrong.

    In the last week gasoline consumption ticked back up, and the Stock Market is rising.

    The "Greek Panic" is over, and the oil leak is off the headlines. If weekly unemployment claims start to come down a bit I think we might have a fair 3rd qtr, GDP-wise. Maybe in the 3.0 to 3.5 range.

    The 4th qtr, however, I'm not so sanguine about. I think it might be pretty weak as high gas prices start to take hold, again.

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  54. "The "Big Boys" are projecting GDP growth to slow even more this quarter. I'm kinda thinking they're wrong."

    Why doesn't this surprise me?

    "The 4th qtr, however, I'm not so sanguine about. I think it might be pretty weak as high gas prices start to take hold, again."


    Or this?


    Ruf, like George Bush, you will continue to be wrong until you are right.


    :)


    .

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  55. "It's amazing how likely you are to see what you "expect" to see."

    A chart over time for one variable especially one based on percentages tells you very little.

    This year we are budgeting a little north of $700 billion for defense; yet the real cost of defense is propably a lot closer to a trillion. If you start adding in the real costs of defense that are buried elsewhere, interest on the cost of the wars, healthcare and benefits for those injured in the wars, black ops operations, defense intelligence that is not published, etc, it adds up pretty quick.

    Also, when the pie doubles you have to come up with a pretty good rationale to justify doubling the size of each individual piece.


    .

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  56. Okey, Dokey

    I'll take the "overs" on 2.9%

    Which side do you want, sweetheart?

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  57. pssht,

    If I were you I'd take the unders; I prolly got a little carried away, there. :)

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  58. I prolly got a little carried away, there.

    I think so.

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  59. We spent $24 billion to go to the Moon, but some people think that means Neil and Buzz stacked big pallets of $100 bills there. We spent $700 million dollars building a second Narrows bridge next to Sturdy Gertie, but that wasn't money down the shitter, all those construction guys spent their wages locally, and when all was said and done, we now have a bridge worth $700 million dollars.

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  60. A few years ago, Globe Trekker Justine Shapiro was traveling in Turkey. As she moved east away from Istanbul, the men began to treat her as if she where cheap and easy. After all, she wasn't covered as a proper woman should be. I've read accounts of young Muslim men in the UK and Europe who think the white girls are nothing more than whores.

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  61. No news there, Whit. A girlfriend was assigned to Turkey in 1965. She got the same treatment out in the little hamlets where she was sent to improve sanitation and education.

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  62. They haven't changed much. Still herding goats.

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  63. British Broadcasting

    Scholar wins Malaysian TV's Young Imam contest

    Muhammad Asyraf Muhammad Asryaf survived 10 weeks of practical and written tests to win

    A 26-year-old religious scholar has been chosen as the winner of a Malaysian TV talent show searching for a top young imam, or Muslim leader.

    In Friday's live TV final, Muhammad Asyraf saw off the last of nine other contestants vying to win Young Imam.

    He had survived 10 weeks of written and practical tests, which included reciting Koran verses, washing a dead body for burial and slaughtering sheep.

    His prize includes a scholarship to a Saudi university and a trip to Mecca.

    The prime time TV show, which followed the reality-TV formula of programmes like the X-Factor and American Idol, had proved a popular hit in Malaysia and had gained worldwide attention.
    Role model

    On being chosen as the winner by the programme's judge, an Islamic scholar and former imam, Mr Asyraf was "crowned" with a white Islamic skullcap.

    "I feel good. Thanks to my parents, my wife and my fellow villagers who have been supporting me," AFP quoted him as saying.
    Filming Imam Muda in Malaysia The programme's X Factor-style formula proved a hit with audiences

    Mr Asyraf's prize package includes a scholarship to al-Madinah University in Saudi Arabia, a job as prayer leader in a major mosque in Kuala Lumpur, a car and an all-expenses paid pilgrimage to Islam's holiest site, Mecca.

    More than 60% of Malaysia's population of 28 million are Muslim.

    The producers of the programme, which was broadcast by Muslim lifestyle satellite channel Astro Oasis, said that it was aimed at helping young Muslims engage with religion, by teaching them what it takes to be an imam and that an imam's work extends beyond the mosque into all aspects of Islamic life.

    The candidates underwent the same training as other aspiring imams do, such as formal testing on religious theory and knowledge.

    But they also tackled social issues involving young people, like motorcycle gang members and unmarried, pregnant teenagers.

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  64. Jenna Bush's wedding: $100,000.

    Chelsea Clinton's wedding: $3-$5 million.

    The Dem mantra: "The GOP is the party of the rich".

    Priceless.

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  65. Look, morons, it's a bunch of crap, and always has been, since the farmers created a surplus, circa 5,500 years ago.

    I've seen it all go to hell, here.

    You think you're gonna get it right, this time?

    You're nuts. It's nothing like that at all.

    The last best thing the government ever did that was worthwhile was "Operation Wetback', and that was back in the Eisenhower days, in the fifties.

    Grow up and accept death the liberator, cause this world is mostly the shits. And is gonna get worse.

    (course, I really don't believe that)

    (but, I do)

    As much as I like Trish, we'd be better off without a State Department at all.

    Wouldn't make no difference.

    But a work of art is a joy forever.

    I am truly sorry to see Linear Thinker back here again. He'd been gone so long, I'd begun to hope against hope, that he had electrocuted himself.

    I went to "A Mid Summer's Night's Dream" last night.

    Hermia got taken to the cleaners by Helena for being so squat, dark haired, and lacking blue eyes, which was, as reflected in Shakespeare, the standard of beauty at the time.

    Just random thoughts.

    And if you read it closely, you will see, even then, they were pining for the old days, society is falling apart, the Linear Thinkers rise up, thoughtlessly, morals go to hell, and everything is controlled by the stars, according to the deep thinkers, like Quirk, follower of the stars.

    But, you have to read close, Shakespeare, and you certainly won't.

    What really pisses me off is-"rent seekers"--RIGHT--what a profound nonsensical thought.

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  66. Well Bob, look on the bright side, we may not have had Obama speak at the 100th Boy Scout anniversary at the jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill in Virginia, but he did go on the view to reveal what brand of tampon he uses.

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  67. heh :)

    There may be something to this urabanization, I caught good trout seven blocks from the Capitol Building.

    Everyone else is watching 'Oprah' or 'Judge Judy'.

    Or worrying about the Arisona law.

    What a stupid high tech communications society we have become, but I at least remember some of the old ways.

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  68. I got them with

    1)shoes with cleaks, like golf shoes

    2)pants, no underear, just jeans, and when the cold waster hits your balls, they contract

    3) a ski pole, absolutlely necessary

    4) a shirt with a pocket, to keep the change of flies

    5) a change of reel, with a sinking line,in your pants pocket

    )if they don't bite, you swtich

    6) and most important of all, a love, and a competence, and an axpert eye for knowing what the hell you're doing.

    Then you score, if score can be.

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  69. I got them with

    1)shoes with cleaks, like golf shoes

    2)pants, no underwear, just jeans, and when the cold waster hits your balls, they contract

    3) a ski pole, absolutlely necessary

    4) a shirt with a pocket, to keep the change of flies

    5) a change of reel, with a sinking line,in your pants pocket

    if they don't bite, you swtich

    6) and most important of all, a love, and a competence, and an expert eye for knowing what the hell you're doing

    7)got them with a Royal Coachman

    Then you score, if score can be.

    And a love of the laughing, swirling, wonderful water, the burble and bubble and laughing swirl of all that is, and it's always the same.

    It's catch aned release.

    You do this, by keeping your hands always in the water, a dry hand on a trout will lead to virus on the skin, so you, fishing a barbless hook like I do, simply pull him up a little bit, then push back fast, all under water, then he's gone.

    That is the way you do it.

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  70. Narcissism, alcohol, and presumably a missed dosage of lithium.

    There's a volatile combination.

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  71. "Look, morons..."

    You tell 'em, bob.

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  72. Halfwits and imbeciles, the lot of them.

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  73. I do recall speaking to the subject of highly skilled framers.

    The entire construction industry, for that matter.

    Framers today, here, make the same $12 an hour I made back in the late 70's. Though there is not much framing going on, now.

    Kind of a mute point, today.

    There were a lot of Spanish speakers, at the peak, three years ago.
    But one would assume, that as was the case with the Farmers Market, most had some form of documentation. Legit or not.

    Almost all of the illegals do.

    We have had an employer sanctions law, on the books here, for about three, maybe four years now. There have been two cases brought, by Sheriff Joe and the County Attorney.

    Almost an impossible case to prove, that the employer knew the worker was illegal.

    I know that one case that was brought was due to the KFC rehiring a fella, after he'd been deported.

    Now, if in Maricopa County, where over 3 million folk reside, Sheriff Joe could only bring two cases, in three years, the law is worthless as an deterrent to hiring the illegal worker.

    As was the case with the Farmers Market, where 350 out of the 1,000 employees were here illegally, but had all been E-Verified.

    It took a Federal ICE audit to weed them out.

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  74. AZ's SB 1070 will not change the current hiring practices, and will not make it any more difficult for an illegal to obtain those false papers, that pass the Federal E-Verify system.

    The game is rigged.

    SB 1070 is local politics, or the Governor would have gone directly to the Supremes, as is the point of this thread.

    The powers that be, here, want this episode to drag out, the entire deal being political fodder, not policy.

    They love the drama, the sit ins and arrests on the nightly news.
    The Governors' poll numbers are way up.

    While the law is worthless from any practical point of view.

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  75. It's just theater.

    A show.

    Sheriff Joe and Mr Pearce, both are on the local news quite a bit, I've even seen Mr Pearce on the National news, making his day, fer sure.

    He's getting his fifteen minutes.

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  76. Better to regularize these folks, make them pay the fine for the misdemeanor they have committed in crossing the border, and get on with life.

    Or Federally audit everyone that hires a day laborer or a nanny.

    Or maintain the status que, which is what is happening, despite the dramatics.

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  77. There is nothing, whit, that the State of Arizona can do about the illegals.

    It is a Federal problem.
    It is a Federal E-Verify system.
    It is the Federals that supply the SS number required to work legally in the United States, not any of the individual States.

    Work permits are Federally regulated, Green Cards are Federal, the entire immigration and employment authorization system is Federal.

    Neither Party wants to address that, but most of the Democrats and eleven GOPers, John McCain amongst them, all were for Comprehensive Reform, which would have identified and regularized the illegals.

    Instead, due to public outrage, over "amnesty" the status que reigns supreme.

    While if the fines had been levied, it'd have not been "amnesty" but penalty paid and justice served.

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  78. Better to regularize these folks, make them pay the fine for the misdemeanor they have committed in crossing the border, and get on with life.

    Couple that with border control, and a sane guest worker program, and you have what I've been saying since 2006. All three together.

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  79. The Governor, as well, has gone from being an obscure politico, elevated to the Governor's office upon Ms Napolitano leaving for DC.

    She is getting a whole lot of TV face time, now. Which she never would have without SB 1070.

    She's now elevated herself to being a National player, but still in the Ninth Circuit.
    Where she need not be, but for the extended face time it affords her.

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  80. No rocket science.

    Had it figured out in one afternoon mending fence. Before Miller Time.

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  81. Exactly, lineman, exactly.

    Those that have committed the misdemeanor of crossing the border, they do not HAVE to be put on a "Path to Citizenship", just regularize and work permitted.

    But the "Conservatives" would rather have them be "underground and illegal", than working in the light of day.

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  82. So the ninth circuit finally is of some benefit to a Republican? Is that a bad thing?

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  83. She and AZ will, more than likely, lose at the Ninth Circuit.

    If stereotypes hold.

    Adding more fuel to the fire.

    Which will not move US closer to a solution.

    Then, regardless of how the Ninth Circuit rules, the case will move to the Supremes.

    Where I have no idea how it will play out.

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  84. Conservatives would rather promote identity theft, which is the status que, than regularization.


    It's insane.

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  85. Packing houses and poultry operations across the midland were lighting up the boards of their congressmen pleading for them to pressure the INS and Border Patrol to go easy. It happened. It's a bi-partisan criminal enterprise with some brown skinned folks trying to take care of their families caught in the middle. Congress with the help the administrations has been fostering this setup for over 25 years. Great political circus. Nothing gets done.

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  86. While, as the numbers tell the tale, border control is improving.

    But the drug runners, US Army trained, are still getting through, convoying through the desert at night, under cammo nets in the day, with .50 caliber Barretts in overwatch positions.

    That is another challenge, one that is not quite the same as workers migrating north.

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  87. But the two issues, drug runners and migrant workers, they are often conflated in the political debate.

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  88. Trish is always up on 'em.

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  89. Better to regularize these folks, make them pay the fine for the misdemeanor they have committed in crossing the border, and get on with life.

    Couple that with border control, and a sane guest worker program, and you have what I've been saying since 2006. All three together.

    - linear

    So resolved.

    Next issue.





    Should bob maybe invest in a pair of waders?

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  90. No, here's the standard issue

    1) one ski pole
    2) one pair of jeans
    3) one t shirt with pocket
    4) one pair of golf shoes, with steel cleats
    5) one replacement leader in pocket
    6) three or four replacement flies in pocket
    7) one replacement reel and line in pants pocket
    8) floppy Glacier National Park hat and
    10) sunglasses
    11) A PROFESSIONAL EYE and
    12) Love

    That's it folks, nothing fancey, no kreel, cause we don't keep 'em.

    When you wade up to your waist in this cold water, your testicles tightenm, and the excitement begins.

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