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."

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Jay Carney and his “stylistic changes” did not work with the assembled press corps this time. His flippant, Obamaesque insistence that “efforts to re-fight the political battles of the past are not looked on kindly by the American people” did not work either.




NATIONAL REVIEW ONLINE          WWW.NATIONALREVIEW.COM          
Jay Carney’s Waterloo
The White House spokesman flounders in front of a newly curious press corps.
By  Charles C. W. Cooke

‘Thank you for that question,” White House spokesman Jay Carney said feebly when, early in Friday’s press conference, the issue of Benghazi was raised. And then he reflexively tried to recruit the questioner to his side. Look, Carney insisted, those darned Republicans are involved in an “ongoing attempt to politicize a tragedy that took four American lives.” We’re not going to fall into their trap and ask questions of the administration, are we? We’re not like those other outlets that are engaged in a “pattern of spreading misinformation.” Right, guys?
Evidently, Carney had not yet realized that things had changed. What had been a fringe story had by now gone mainstream: The New Yorker had written that new evidence “seriously undermines the White House’s credibility on this issue”; ABC News’s Jonathan Karl had averred that developments “directly contradict what White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said . . .  in November”; Thursday’s Morning Joe panel had agreed that the news was troubling for the White House; and George Will was gearing up to go onto the Sunday shows and complain that the nation had been “systematically misled.”

Newly intrigued, the assembled press corps ignored Carney’s ploy; so, too, his flippant, Obamaesque insistence that “efforts to re-fight the political battles of the past are not looked on kindly by the American people.” Benghazi might well have “happened a long time ago,” as Carney hilariously assured the media on May 1, but the fourth estate was now interested.

Cutting short the dismissal, Jim Acosta of CNN inquired of Carney why the State Department had removed Anshar al-Sharia’s name from the CIA’s story, and what the discovery of this edit has done to the credibility of the White House. “References to that group are removed from the conversation and don’t make their way into the talking points,” Acosta argued. “That is not a stylistic edit. That is not a single adjustment as you said back in November. That is a major, dramatic change to the information.”

“I appreciate the question and the opportunity,” Carney said, twitching slightly and starting to go red. But apparently he didn’t appreciate it enough to answer it. Nor to take the opportunity to admit that his prior claim that “the CIA drafted these talking points and redrafted” them — and that only “stylistic and non-substantive” changes were made from outside — was demonstrably false. At the fork in the road, Carney once again chose the well-worn low way.
Acosta was visibly unimpressed. Here it became clear that we were in it for the long haul. “Let me just follow up on this once and for all,” he eventually asked. “Do you promise once and for all?” pleaded Carney. “Maybe not,” Acosta shot back. “You are comfortable with the way you characterized this back in November? That this was a single adjustment?”

“I do. I do stand by it,” Carney replied.

“Jay, you told us that the only changes were stylistic,” asserted ABC’s Jonathan Karl, who earlier in the day had mainstreamed the yeoman’s work of The Weekly Standard’s Stephen F. Hayes. (Hayes had blown the lid off the talking-points deception almost a week before, to little public thanks.) “Is it a ‘stylistic’ change to take out all references to previous terror threats in Benghazi?” Karl asked.

“I appreciate the question again,” Carney answered, closing his eyes and twitching a little. “I accept that ‘stylistic’ might not precisely describe a change of one word to another . . . ” Bristling, Karl interrupted, observing that the original talking points referred to al-Qaeda and to Anshar al-Sharia and had “extensive discussion of the previous threats of terrorist attacks in Benghazi.” A new set of talking points, “based on input from the State department” was written, Karl added. It featured none of those things. “Do you deny that?” he jabbed.

“I’ve answered this question several times now,” Carney pretended. “I’m happy to answer it again if you’ll let me?” he continued. Looking anything but happy to answer it, Carney started to list the branches of government involved in the draft. Then he moved back to blaming Republicans for creating a “distraction.”

Frequently, Carney attempted to assure the press that the government’s talking points had been carefully put together in order to make “concretely for sure” that no mistakes were made. After all, he insisted, we weren’t sure who did it, so the aim was “limiting the talking points to what we knew, as opposed to speculation about what may or may not have been, in the end, relevant to what happened in Benghazi.” The message: Better “not include things we could not be sure of.”

Like blaming protests on a YouTube video, perhaps?

The only thing that was inaccurate about his previous assertions, Carney insisted, was his claim that there were anti-video demonstrations outside the Benghazi compound on September 11 last year. Besides, he continued, Republicans are wrong to accuse the White House of “playing down an act of terror and an attack on the embassy,” because “the president himself” took to the Rose Garden on September 12 and told the country that the attack was an “act of terror.”

This was quite an astonishing thing for Carney to repeat, not just because the CBS transcript is available to anyone who cares to look it up but also because Carney himself claimed on September 14 that the attack “was a response to a YouTube video.” Worse, five days after that, he told the press:
Our belief based on the information we have is it was the video that caused the unrest in Cairo, and the video and the unrest in Cairo that helped — that precipitated some of the unrest in Benghazi and elsewhere. What other factors were involved is a matter of investigation.

This line was repeated at least once by Hillary Clinton, many times by Susan Rice, and, on September 26, by President Obama in his speech to the United Nations. We are thus supposed to believe that the government was so “[concerned] about the integrity of the investigation,” to use Carney’s peculiar words, that it removed all the suspects from public discussion while simultaneously blaming the attack on a video.
Among their many claimed sins, Republicans also drew Carney’s ire for “leaking” information “for political reasons.” “That’s their prerogative,” he sniffed. But this disgust at leaks struck a false note, given that the White House had held a secret meeting just a few minutes earlier in which it passed — “for political reasons”? — unattributable information to reporters. Just a few minutes before Carney’s on-air press conference, Politico’s Dylan Byers reported:
The White House held a “deep background” briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO. . . . I asked [White House spokesman] Earnest to explain the meaning of “deep background,” as defined by the White House, for my readers. He emails: “Deep background means that the info presented by the briefers can be used in reporting but the briefers can’t be quoted.”
At times, Carney veered into abject nonsense:
The effort is always to, in that circumstance, and with an ongoing investigation and a lot of information, some of it accurate, some of it not, about what had happened and who was responsible, to provide information for members of Congress and others in the administration, for example, who might speak publicly about it that was based on only what the intelligence community could say for sure it thought it knew.
Glad we got that cleared up, then.
Until those damnable journalists got involved, May 10 had been billed by the White House as “Health Care Day” — a happy occasion on which the virtues of Obamacare were to be extolled. It was not to be. Six months late, curiosity about Benghazi finally intruded on the president’s parade. “A throne,” Napoleon held, “is only a bench covered with velvet.” If the president is to ride this one out, Jay Carney is going to have to start nailing that velvet back down.
— Charles C. W. Cooke is an editorial associate at National Review.

139 comments:

  1. When two storms collide, the weather gets hairy. For President Obama, the IRS and Benghazi stories converged this weekend for a self-inflicted tempest that threatens his credibility.

    His people can’t get their stories straight.

    Internal Revenue Service officials denied for months the targeting of conservative political groups for reviews of their tax exempt status. With investigators poised to expose the chilling operation, a high-ranking IRS official acknowledged it late last week and apologized for it.

    The agency blamed low-level employees, saying no high-level officials were aware. That appears to be untrue. The Associated Press reported Saturday that senior IRS officials knew agents were targeting tea party groups as early as 2011, according to a draft of an inspector general’s report.

    Politicizing the IRS threatens the integrity of an agency entrusted with Americans' secrets and the taxes that fund government. It also fuels the paranoia of conspiracy theorists.

    "This is outrageous," said Democratic consultant Chris Kofinis. "The administration and the president need to condem this and act immediately. This is not a right-left issue.”

    Several other Democratic allies of the White House expressed similiar sentiments while refusing to be named out of fear of retribution. Kofinis, who specializes in political communications, said the White House needs to explain itself. “Your first response can't be to say the IRS is an independent agency," a claim the White House has made, he said.

    Later, at a White House news conference, Obama forcefully denounced the IRS actions as “outrageous" and said people will be held accountable.

    On Benghazi, the president’s U.N. ambassador said five days after the Libya attack that the incident grew out of a street protest rather than a terrorist attack. Caught fudging the facts in the middle of a presidential campaign, a race in which Obama’s anti-terrorism record was a major selling point, the White House blamed Ambassador Susan Rice’s statement on “talking points” concocted by the CIA in virtual isolation.

    Obama’s team stuck with that story until the truth was exposed amid a GOP congressional investigation. Emails leaked to news organizations last week show that both the White House and State Department were directly involved in scrubbing the CIA talking points of any mention of past threats and al-Qaida involvement. That is the exact opposite of what the Obama White House had claimed.

    Inexplicably, White House spokesman Jay Carney refused late Friday to acknowledge the contradiction.

    Even worse, Obama himself ignored his administration's obfuscations today, and instead called the debate over shifting explanations "a sideshow." At the news conference, he turned the tables on GOP critics and accused them of playing “political games."

    Why does this matter? Because a president’s credibility matters. President Bush’s second term effectively ended when Americans grew tired of his administration’s spinning and dissembling over Iraq and Katrina. They stopped trusting him. They stopped listening to him. He no longer had the moral authority to lead.

    It’s far too early in this perfect storm of controversy to condemn Obama to Bush’s fate, but he and his advisers face a credibility crisis. Obama missed a chance on Benghazi today to convince Americans that he is still worthy of their trust.

    To do so, he may need to do more than to promise to bolster embassy security and to shut down the IRS targeting operation. He may need to forcefully condemn the half-truths and distortions disseminated under his name.

    He may need to fire people who can’t get his story straight.

    UPDATE: Original story was updated with Obama news conference.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Trust? Obama?

      Those words never went together, unless you're Lester Crown.
      Then you can trust Mr Obama will deliver.

      But, for the common voter, Mr Obama was always the better of two poor choices.

      Never was about trust, without verification.
      Even when the President is given the benefit of the doubt.

      Obama has always seemed to have been a 'delegate and forget' kind of a guy.
      His follow up on details, always has seemed less than intense.

      Delete
    2. Ah the anti-semite Rat brings up the Lester Crown connection.

      You can find more about Jewish evil connections of "Lester Crown" at the Aryan Nation Information resource center.

      Delete
  2. Benghazi, IRS Create Perfect Storm Threatening Obama’s Credibility
    What does it mean when a president's people can't get their stories straight?

    By Ron Fournier
    Updated: May 13, 2013 | 2:01 p.m.
    May 13, 2013 | 8:01 a.m.

    ReplyDelete
  3. John Boehner's Daughter marries a Jamaican doper w/dreadlocks down to his butt.

    Bohner's wife is Orange, like him.

    Odd folks from Ohio.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Daughter's orange too.

    Maybe it's genetic.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's probably the water, in Ohio.

      It drove quot to get an Israeli passport.

      Delete
    2. Or was it genetics?

      All those folks, from Ohio, they should get a blood purity test, they may be infected by a virus, mineral deficiencies, or perhaps, stray strands of mutated DNA .

      Delete
    3. Yawn.... Is that the BEST you can come up with?

      WOW so I am from OHIO, and you are squatting in AZ!

      Weak Rodent weak... yesterday's news.

      And I hold an American passport.

      Now you? You will not go NEAR a tsa control checkpoint, nor anywhere federal ID needs to be shown... One can only wonder, are YOU the illegal in question?

      Delete
    4. It was, what, three days ago, that you wrote that you held an Israeli passport.

      Be careful, now, as Deuce can pull up those posts deleted by the author.

      Tread lightly, child.

      Delete
    5. Tread lightly child?

      This coming from you?

      Please provide the quote in question and in context or shut the fuck up.

      Just like your post was deleted by the blog last time. You have no proof of anything.

      You just lie, twist and spin.

      Or as we say in ohio?

      You're a shit head.

      Delete
    6. Deuce can pull deleted posts of by the author?

      Excellent then he can pull up those posts that you threaten me and bob, when you confessed to being a murderer

      Works both ways criminal.

      It's you that hides from the Feds in AZ, staying away from checkpoints.

      It's you that claim to be an "ollie north" black ops civilian.

      It's you that are on the run from the Human Rights Watch.....

      Careful fugitive, the more attention you bring to yourself as a self confessed murder in Central America hiding in AZ the more attention you bring to yourself...

      lol

      Delete
  5. I do not approve of American citizens of German descent forming organizations to force the United States into practical alliance with Germany because their ancestors came from Germany. Just as little do I believe in American citizens of English descent forming leagues to force the United States into an alliance with England because their ancestors came from England.
    T. Roosevelt, Oct, 1915


    Guess that would tell US what Teddy thinks of AIPAC

    Basically, he summed it up, in a speech to the Knights of Columbus...

    ... there ought to be no room for them in this country. The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic.
    He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Teddy goes on, in a letter written in 1916.

      ... I care nothing for a man’s creed, or his birthplace, or descent! but I regard him as an unworthy citizen unless he is an American and nothing else.

      Delete
    2. Thanks Teddy:

      Oscar Solomon Straus (December 23, 1850 – May 3, 1926) was United States Secretary of Commerce and Labor under President Theodore Roosevelt from 1906 to 1909. Straus was the first Jewish United States Cabinet Secretary.

      Teddy, may have said what you say he said but that didnt stop Ole Teddy from embracing the jewish republicans of NY!

      In fact, ole Teddy embraced the jewish-American voters by approving and supporting their efforts to portray him as the "Avenger of the Jews" against Spain.

      All so Teddy could be Governor of NY

      lol

      Delete
    3. Thanks for bringing up AIPAC. It's a great AMERICAN organization!

      Does alot of good for Americans and Israelis.

      They share alot of common values.

      AIPAC's popularity with Americans as an organization has never been higher!!

      In fact, the bi-partison support for AIPAC's agenda is unprecedented!

      AIPAC has an open tent of Americans of all political parties, genders, faiths and is a model of what an American citizen lobbying group is and what it can accomplish.

      AIPAC, a group of American citizens doing what is right, moral, legal and constitutional. Advocating their concerns with Congress.

      Delete
    4. I wonder if Teddy would have liked "Criminal-Americans" like our very own Rat?

      Delete


    5. desert ratTue May 14, 08:42:00 AM EDT
      I do not approve of American citizens of German descent forming organizations to force the United States into practical alliance with Germany because their ancestors came from Germany. Just as little do I believe in American citizens of English descent forming leagues to force the United States into an alliance with England because their ancestors came from England.
      T. Roosevelt, Oct, 1915


      So Ole Teddy was commenting on the fact that GERMANY was involved in a WORLD WAR which started in 1914.

      The German population responded to the outbreak of war in 1914 with a complex mix of emotions, in a similar way to the populations in other countries of Europe; notions of overt enthusiasm known as the Spirit of 1914 have been challenged by more recent scholarship.[1] The German government, dominated by the Junkers, thought of the war as a way to end Germany's disputes with rivals France, Russia and Britain. The beginning of war was presented in authoritarian Germany as the chance for the nation to secure "our place under the sun," as the Foreign Minister Bernhard von Bulow had put it, which was readily supported by prevalent nationalism among the public.


      Your are so good at quoting out of context statements.

      Teddy would have not supported GERMAN groups forming to support Germany DURING A WORLD WAR of GERMANY"S making for expansion and nationalism

      It's really disgusting how you lie.

      Delete
  6. Does the CIA have employees posing as State Department workers in Russia, too?

    Russia's security services claimed Tuesday to have arrested a CIA agent posing as an employee of the U.S. Embassy in Moscow for allegedly trying to recruit a Russian secret service agent to work for the U.S..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Old news, rat.

      Every country where we have a diplomatic mission has CIA operatives who they identify as State Department workers. That's why I have always argued we should have more diplomatic missions, not less. Maybe if we had diplomatic missions in Iran and Cuba we might know what the heck was going on there with their governments and in the street rather than just speculating.

      Although we don't seem to know what's going on even in the countries we do have missions, perhaps it would be a waste of money.

      .

      Delete
  7. A video which appears to show a Syrian rebel taking a bite from the heart of a dead soldier has been widely condemned. US-based Human Rights Watch identified the rebel as Abu Sakkar, a well-known insurgent from the city of Homs, ...

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22519770

    ReplyDelete
  8. TOKYO (AP) - An outspoken nationalist mayor said the Japanese military's forced prostitution of Asian women before and during World War II was necessary to "maintain discipline" in the ranks and provide rest for soldiers who risked their lives in battle.

    ReplyDelete
  9. The ones that need to keep an eye on Obama are his "base." He's turning out to be the "worst socialist, ever."

    With the Dow up 150%, and inflation virtually non-existent, unemployment inching lower, and the deficit falling off a cliff, this guy had better go back to Communism 101, and repeat. He must have missed a couple of days.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Have you paid your water bill? your electric bill? your health insurance? your gas bill? Bought a steak?

      the dow is NOT the majority of the USA's commerce, it's 30 stocks.

      and your deficit falling off a cliff? what part of 17 TRILLION dont ya get? 112 billion in one quarter does not make a trend

      Delete
    2. You really shouldn't comment on stuff of which you know nothing; you embarrass yourself (even more.)

      The "17 T" is the "debt" (one of the definitions/iterations, anyway,) not the "deficit," and the $112.9 Billion was for the MONTH, not the quarter.

      Delete
    3. So your electric bill has not risen?

      Your water bill has not risen?

      Your cost of steak has not risen?

      Your cost of gas has not gone up?

      The Dow is NOT just 30 stocks?

      So you pointed out that I mislabeled the 17 TRILLION in DEBT, And did not point out that this obama administration is running 1,2 TRILLION in deficit and that the ONE time 112 billion for ONE month was NOT a trend but an exception.

      Please show me, over the last 5 years just how many months the DEFICIT was negative?

      If Obama is running 1.2 TRILLION a YEAR in deficit ( or 8 trillion added to the DEBT) what is your 112 billion mean, NOTHING dipshit. Not a dam thing.

      Now couple that with the Federal reserve's QE1,2,3 monetary easing?

      Now wonder your precious DOW is up, it's POLICY to inflate the stock market.

      Now rufus, go back to your cereal box education.

      asshole.

      Delete
    4. The Deficit, as I've pointed out several times, is going to come in somewhere in the range of $700 Billion this year, Not $1.2 Trillion, and Not the $845 Billion that the CBOT is predicting, and, most assuredly, Not the $1.4 Trillion that Bush left him with.


      And, All the stock indexes are tracking the Dow within a percent, or two.

      Delete
    5. And, I can't think of any states that are embracing "renewable" energy technologies that have had "rising" electric bills.

      Delete
    6. Rufus IITue May 14, 09:39:00 AM EDT
      And, I can't think of any states that are embracing "renewable" energy technologies that have had "rising" electric bills.


      SO?

      Does that mitigate the RISING cost of electric bills for the MAJORITY of Americans?

      BTW, no answer on water bills, gasoline, steaks?

      California Why Your Electric Bill is Getting More Expensive?


      http://ivn.us/california/2013/05/13/why-your-electric-bill-is-getting-more-expensive/

      Delete
    7. Rufus IITue May 14, 09:28:00 AM EDT
      The Deficit, as I've pointed out several times, is going to come in somewhere in the range of $700 Billion this year, Not $1.2 Trillion, and Not the $845 Billion that the CBOT is predicting, and, most assuredly, Not the $1.4 Trillion that Bush left him with.

      And, All the stock indexes are tracking the Dow within a percent, or two.


      So we are ONLY spending 7000 MILLION more per year than we take in! Happy days are here again!

      It's not like 700 BILLION in additional DEBT (yes debt) being added will mean anything?

      As for the stock indexes? They and the DOW are being PUMPED by the printing of worthless cash...

      But dont let facts stand in your way of making an argument

      Delete
    8. You're way over your pay grade, here, wio. YOY CPI will be out this week, and it will be, probably, a little less than 1.5%. That's too "low," not too high.

      And, if you inherited an economy that was running 1.4 Trillion in Deficits, getting it down to less than half of that in a little over 3 years is pretty good.

      An amazing amount of "money" was destroyed in the crash. To not replace some of that would have, without a doubt, given us Great Depression II.

      Delete
    9. And, if you inherited an economy that was running 1.4 Trillion in Deficits, getting it down to less than half of that in a little over 3 years is pretty good.


      Really?

      Here are the facts:
      In 2008, George W. Bush ran a deficit of $485 billion. By the time the fiscal year started, on Oct. 1, 2008, it had gone up by another $100 billion due to increased recession-related spending and depressed revenues. So it was about $600 billion at the start of the fiscal crisis. That was the real Bush deficit.
      But when the fiscal crisis hit, Bush had to pass the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) in the final months of his presidency, which cost $700 billion. Under the federal budget rules, a loan and a grant are treated the same. So the $700 billion pushed the deficit — officially — up to $1.3 trillion. But not really. The $700 billion was a short-term loan. $500 billion of it has already been repaid.
      So what was the real deficit Obama inherited? The $600 billion deficit Bush was running plus the $200 billion of TARP money that probably won’t be repaid (mainly AIG and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac). That totals $800 billion. That was the real deficit Obama inherited.
      Then … he added $300 billion in his stimulus package, bringing the deficit to $1.1 trillion. This $300 billion was, of course, totally qualitatively different from the TARP money in that it was spending, not lending. It would never be paid back. Once it was out the door, it was gone. Other spending and falling revenues due to the recession pushed the final numbers for Obama’s 2009 deficit up to $1.4 trillion.
      So, effectively, Obama came close to doubling the deficit.
      Obama seems not to understand that the deficit is the jobs problem. To add to the deficit in the hope of creating more jobs is an oxymoron. Additional deficit spending just crowds out small businesses trying to borrow money to create jobs and consumers seeking credit to buy cars and homes.
      Soon, when the Fed stops printing money and we have to borrow real funds from real lenders, the high deficit will send interest rates soaring, further retarding growth and creating a cost-push inflation.
      The interest rate we are now paying for the debt — about 3.5 percent — is totally artificial and based on the massive injection of money supply created by the purchase of mortgage-backed securities by an obliging Federal Reserve. Once these injections of currency stop, the rate will more than double, sending our debt service spending into the stratosphere. Once we had to choose between guns and butter. Now we will have to choose between guns and butter on the one hand and paying our debt service on the other.


      Read more: http://thehill.com/opinion/columnists/dick-morris/79359-these-are-the-true-deficits-bush-800b-obama-14t#ixzz2THLrQnuF
      Follow us: @thehill on Twitter | TheHill on Facebook

      Delete
    10. Dick Morris? Really?

      Lordy Mercy. :)

      Delete
    11. Rufus IITue May 14, 11:00:00 AM EDT
      Dick Morris? Really?
      Lordy Mercy. :)


      How Rules for Radicals of you....

      How about reading the facts and disputing them if you disagree.

      The LAST year in office Bush's deficit was inflated by tarp, the follow year that was REPAID and Obama got to use that money to REDUCE his actual deficit.

      Shooting the messenger rather than disputing the message is a sign of a person arguing "above their pay grade"

      Have a nice day Jr.

      Delete
  10. I hadn't ever thought about it before this morning, but I have just decided to join AIPAC. And why shouldn't I? I support Israel, and believe a strong relationship with Israel is good for our country

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Done! That was easy.

      http://www.aipac.org/

      I am now a member of AIPAC, PETA, IANDS, Clearwater Fly Casters, NRA, and the Idaho Republican Party.

      Delete
    2. I joined PETA when I learned they had been against introducing predators into a new ecology, like was done with the new wolves from Canada introduced here.

      Delete
    3. I will share AIPAC's news alerts and interesting stuff with the group here.

      Delete
    4. I expect my taxes to soon be audited. I have nothing to hide.

      Delete
    5. Next, an Israeli Passport?

      Oh, wait, you have to be an Israeli Citizen to have an Israeli "Passport." never mind.

      Delete
    6. Most American dual citizens are Mexican-Americans. The most prominent is Juan Hernandez, born in Dallas, who is a member of the Cabinet of Mexican President Vicente Fox.

      http://old.post-gazette.com/nation/20020515dual0515p4.asp

      Delete
    7. Losing citizenship

      Voting in a foreign election, serving in a foreign army, or swearing allegiance to a foreign government used to be automatic grounds for losing U.S. citizenship. But a 5-4 decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 made it all but impossible for someone to lose U.S. citizenship unless he or she wants to give it up.

      The case involved a naturalized American citizen originally from Poland, who moved to Israel in 1950. Beys Afroyim tried to get his U.S. passport renewed in 1960, but the State Department turned him down. Afroyim had voted in Israeli elections, which meant he had automatically lost his U.S. citizenship, the department said.

      The Supreme Court said the 14th Amendment effectively elevated citizenship to a constitutional right and ruled that it can be lost only if renounced.

      Delete
    8. Serving in foreign military

      Since the Afroyim decision, thousands of Americans have served in foreign militaries -- chiefly the Israel Defense Forces -- and voted in foreign elections.

      Americans who serve in the Israel Defense Forces see no conflict between their U.S. and Israeli loyalties.

      Michael Cohen has spent roughly half his 37 years in the United States, half in Israel.

      "I ran in the Jerusalem marathon this past week," said Cohen, who is an explosive ordnance disposal officer in the IDF reserves. "I carried both an Israeli flag and an American flag. I don't see a conflict between the two. They both stand for democracy, freedom and human rights."

      Brian Eglath, 36, who works for the United Jewish Federation in Oakland, is of similar mind. A native of Milwaukee, where his parents still live, Eglath moved to Israel in 1990, and promptly was drafted. He served in the IDF during the Gulf War and said he was both protecting Israel and helping the United States.

      "I love America," Eglath said. "When you live abroad, you gain more appreciation for your country of origin."

      There is a long tradition of Americans serving in foreign militaries. More than 200 Americans served in the Lafayette Escadrille, a French fighter squadron, in World War I. Hundreds served in the "Eagle" squadrons of the Royal Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force before U.S. entry into World War II, or in the "Flying Tigers," which was part of the Chinese military. About 4,500 Americans fought in the Spanish Civil War, mostly in the famed Abraham Lincoln Brigade.

      Americans who served in the Lafayette Escadrille, the Eagle Squadrons and the Flying Tigers had their citizenship restored by acts of Congress. Veterans of the Abraham Lincoln Brigade were threatened with loss of citizenship, but the threats were not carried out.

      Delete
    9. .

      I've just started writing another children's book, Chuckles Joins Another Organization, subtitled, Whoopsie, He Did It Again.

      .

      Delete
  11. I don't need an Israeli passport. I got Mat, who has offered to see me around Israel anytime.

    Thanks, General Bunk, for convincing me to join AIPAC.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Good, for you, boobie.

      I guess that the 'exorbitant' Federal taxes left you well enough heeled to make a healthy donation.

      I always liked mat, he of the magic batteries.
      When he advocated for Israel to join with Iran in an anti-US coalition, because of their conjoined interests, thought he was making real headway towards the truth.

      Delete
    2. Some of Mat's opinions are a little off the wall too, just like yours, but I like Mat, he is a heck of a nice guy.

      Delete
  12. On to something that's truly interesting:

    Dylan Matthews: We’ve had technologies that save labor and increase productivity for years. What makes artificial intelligence different?

    Kevin Drum: The difference is that, in the Industrial Revolution, we got big productivity increases from steam engines but there were still people required to run those machines. We had a huge increase in the amount of stuff you could make, but you needed people to design the machines, and make the machines, and use the machines.

    With the digital revolution, the difference is that smart machines provide both power and intelligence. You don’t need human beings for anything anymore. You don’t need them for power, or for the intelligence to use the power. It puts everyone out of work eventually. Because smart machines will become as smart as human beings, there simply is not a job that a machine can’t do on its own.

    This assumes that there are no human labor tasks that are simply beyond the reach of computers. There are a number of philosophers and computer scientists who might argue that there are some tasks computers just can’t do.

    There’s a couple of arguments against the idea that AI is coming soon. One is, as you say, a philosophical argument, which boils down to “However smart machines seem to get, they’ll never have true human intelligence.” I just don’t think that matters. You can call it intelligence or something difference, but that’s semantic. What matters is that they can accomplish the same things humans can.

    The second argument is “can we do it?” Moore’s law says computing power will double every 18 months. The question is whether that’s . . . . .


    A Very Interesting Interview with Kevin Drum

    ReplyDelete
  13. One can be a citizen of the US, and fail at citizenship.

    That is what hyphenated Americans are, failing at citizenship.

    Dual loyalties would mean no loyalties.
    Which, as is evident in quot, not the case.

    No, Mr Roosevelt was correct, once again, when he wrote ...

    The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic. He has no place here; ...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "The man who calls himself an American citizen and who yet shows by his actions that he is primarily the citizen of a foreign land, plays a thoroughly mischievous part in the life of our body politic. He has no place here; and the sooner he returns to the land to which he feels his real heart-allegiance, the better it will be for every good American. There is no such thing as a hyphenated American who is a good American. The only man who is a good American is the man who is an American and nothing else." – Theodore Roosevelt, October 12, 1915, in an address to the Knights of Columbus, Carnegie Hall, NYC


      Talking about GERMAN Americans during the 1st year of ww1.

      Context please...

      oh yeah, out of context for you is truth.

      Delete
    2. cant use that line any more Rat, find another, ole Teddy was talking about Germans.

      Delete
  14. More of Teddy with respect to hyphenated Americans ...
    ... in practice means not merely disregard of, but hostility to, the flag of the United States. When two flags are hoisted on the same pole, one is always hoisted undermost. The hyphenated American always hoists the American flag undermost ...

    Recall quot' consistent defending of the Israeli, for their attack upon the US flagged naval ship, "The Liberty".

    He has defended that attack numerous times, using numerous justifications, but always with fealty and loyalty to the flag of Israel.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. desert ratTue May 14, 01:01:00 PM EDT
      More of Teddy with respect to hyphenated Americans ...
      ... in practice means not merely disregard of, but hostility to, the flag of the United States. When two flags are hoisted on the same pole, one is always hoisted undermost. The hyphenated American always hoists the American flag undermost ...

      Of course this is pure nonsense. Posted by a person of nonsense.


      So when the Rat is cornered?

      Jew bait...

      Delete
    2. Rat: Recall quot' consistent defending of the Israeli, for their attack upon the US flagged naval ship, "The Liberty".

      He has defended that attack numerous times, using numerous justifications, but always with fealty and loyalty to the flag of Israel.



      Change the topic, jew bait and not address the issue.

      Typical.

      So in your own vein...

      How loyal were YOU when you were crawling thru the jungle killing civilians, not in uniform of the USA of any kind, were you being a LOYAL American then?

      Delete
    3. Rat: He has defended that attack numerous times, using numerous justifications, but always with fealty and loyalty to the flag of Israel.

      Seems you were just defending the terrorists of Libya against Americans...

      Hmmm...

      DO you fly a Jihadists flag over the American flag?

      We all thought you were an islamic jihadist terrorist type, I guess your loyalty is to Jihad?

      I wonder if Homeland security's computers are getting this? Desert Rat supports Jihadists in Libya, supported the killing of Americans.

      Delete
    4. Teddy also said

      In 1886 he said: "I don't go so far as to think that the only good Indians are dead Indians, but I believe nine out of ten are, and I shouldn't like to inquire too closely into the case of the tenth. The most vicious cowboy has more moral principle than the average Indian. Turn three hundred low families of New York into New Jersey, support them for fifty years in vicious idleness, and you will have some idea of what the Indians are. Reckless, revengeful, fiendishly cruel, they rob and murder, not the cowboys, who can take care of themselves, but the defenseless, lone settlers on the plains. As for the soldiers, an Indian chief once asked Sheridan for a cannon. "What! Do you want to kill my soldiers with it?" asked the general. "No," replied the chief, "want to kill the cowboy; kill soldier with a club." He later became much more favorable.

      Delete
    5. :):):):):):):):)

      GREAT FIND, WiO!!!!!!!
      ...................

      In the Spanish Civil War, many Americans joined in, on both sides, both in fighting and politics.

      At the time, from my reading, I don't recall anyone questioning that the effort made them any less Americans.

      They weren't called Spanish/Americans either.

      Can't recall Ernest Hemingway ever being called a Spanish/American, or anything but an American.

      Delete
    6. He was speaking of Europeons.
      English, German, Russian Israeli.

      Delete
    7. Hardly, but then again, you cant admit you are wrong can you?

      Now what is that psyco condition called that you have?

      Narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) is a personality disorder[1] in which the individual is described as being excessively preoccupied with issues of personal adequacy, power, prestige and vanity. This condition affects one percent of the population.[2][3] First formulated in 1968, it was historically called megalomania, and is severe egocentrism.

      Yep..Proven wrong over and over again...

      you still cant learn to shut the fuck up..

      you just look sillier and sillier every day..

      Now post about israelis nazis, hitler being a jew, lester crown, the liberty, aipac, abortion or anyone of a dozen distractions..

      Delete
  15. .

    Just read the article heading this stream and I observed that some of the regular posters here would qualify for Jay Carney's job as White House spokesman. I noticed his remarks echoed those that our guys, including those from the Great White North, offered up yesterday to support the opinion that the investigation into Benghazi was 'old news' and merely a political witch hunt.

    With regard to politicizing the debate, I found this interesting

    Among their many claimed sins, Republicans also drew Carney’s ire for “leaking” information “for political reasons.” “That’s their prerogative,” he sniffed. But this disgust at leaks struck a false note, given that the White House had held a secret meeting just a few minutes earlier in which it passed — “for political reasons”? — unattributable information to reporters. Just a few minutes before Carney’s on-air press conference, Politico’s Dylan Byers reported:

    The White House held a “deep background” briefing with reporters on Friday afternoon to discuss recent revelations about the Benghazi investigation, sources familiar with the meeting tell POLITICO. . . . I asked [White House spokesman] Earnest to explain the meaning of “deep background,” as defined by the White House, for my readers. He emails: “Deep background means that the info presented by the briefers can be used in reporting but the briefers can’t be quoted.”


    Go forth and proslesyze, boys, but don't tell anyone this came from us.

    Ironic that Obama is now tapping e-mail accounts and prosecuting whistleblowers accusing him of selctively leaking info to the press.

    .

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. BHO's a fiscal conservative and honest as the day is long.

      Just ask Rufus.

      Delete
  16. WRT the change in deficit, Rufus neglects to mention The Sequester's Effect.

    The one time on a big fiscal issue the Pubs summoned up the balls to do the right thing.

    ...no doubt Rufus will credit the Extreme Fiscal Conservative, BHO.

    It was his idea, after all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      Naw, Rufus indicates that any austerity is bad austerity, It all creates a little cognitive dissonance but what the hell.

      .

      Delete
    2. Actually, Rufus never said any such thing.

      This article pretty much shines a little light on my feelings toward the austerity debate:

      Austerity isn't dead, yet

      Delete
  17. ...7 million fewer workers in a growing population is the new normal.

    All due to technology, don'tcha know.

    50 million Foodstamp recipients and massive other entitlement outlays, massive wealth transfer from main street to wall street?

    Not a factor.

    Crony Capitalism and entitlement fraud is the only way to go.

    Rules for radicals tells me so.
    Screw the system up so badly that it collapses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeppers, the "system" was in pretty good shape when the O'Man took over. Things was jes peachy.

      Delete
    2. The recovery under Obama?

      Unprecedented.

      Far above promises and expectations and previous recoveries.

      Delete
    3. .

      Come on, Doug.

      It's only been five years. Give him some slack.

      .

      Delete
    4. Considering that it started at the early stages of Great Depression II, it maybe hasn't been "That" bad.

      Also, given that it's swimming against a plateauing of global oil production . . . . .

      Delete
    5. Democrat supported programs had nothing to do with the systems collapse.

      Real Estate Bubble/Crash fueled by Massive Fed and Govt Intervention, no big thing.

      "a mere ripple in the pond"

      Everything was all GWB's fault.

      Honest.

      Delete
    6. .

      I knew it was there, just waiting.

      Businesses are not hiring because they are worried about not getting oil at some point in the future.

      .

      Delete
    7. .

      Besides, Obama's got more important things on his hands right now than worrying about the economy, harrassing reporters for instance.

      Eric Holder says the broad AP e-mail seizure was required because he was investigating a "very, very, serious" (I can see where Ash gets his phrasing) leak that threatened the 'national security' of the U.S.

      But wait,

      Holder said he had recused himself from the investigation into the leak last year and had left it to the deputy attorney general...

      Plausible deniability? The guy is, after all, both lawyer and politician.

      Probably all political though. Those complaining are those usually found on Obama 'enemies list'. In addition to the AP, there is most of the MSM, the ACLU, various civil rights organizations, the American Society of News Editors, Democrat Senator Patrick Leahy, you know, the usual suspects.

      http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/may/14/ap-phone-records-subpoena-holder?guni=Network front:network-front main-3 Main trailblock:Network front - main trailblock:Position1

      .

      Delete
    8. Peak Oil Panic in the private sector.

      Probly the reason so many companies are lowering the work week to 30 hours.

      Couldn't be Obamacare.

      New regulations stimulate the business sector.

      Delete
    9. Nonsense, Quirk:

      W.H. on AP probe: Obama 'firm believer' in press freedom

      President Obama is a "strong defender" of the First Amendment and a "firm believer" that the press should not be blocked in its reporting, White House press secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday, but the Justice Department must also be able to investigate criminal activity.

      "On the issue of what is a Department of Justice investigation, as I understand it, the president is a strong defender of the First Amendment," Carney said at his daily briefing, commenting on the news that the Justice Department conducted surveillance of some Associated Press communications. The president is also "firm believer in the need for the press to be unfettered in its ability to conduct investigative reporting and to facilitate a free flow of information."

      But Obama also "recognizes the need for the justice department to investigate alleged criminal activity without undue influence," Carney said.

      Also on POLITICO: Inside the AP: Fear, determination

      Delete
    10. .

      Oh, I recognize that the O is all for press freedom and that it is only a blip that he has prosecuted double the number of reporters that all the other presidents in history combined have.

      .

      Delete
  18. Life after 'sequester': Does federal budget have $1 trillion in fat to cut?

    Critics counter that what Washington calls a “spending cut” is really just a lowering of expected increases in spending. That's true under the sequester – up to a point. Yes, the nominal dollar amount of discretionary spending would be higher in 2022 than in 2013 – by nearly $200 billion.

    But discretionary spending would actually fall significantly, year-over-year, in both 2013 and 2014, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) says. And even though spending would then start ticking upward, it wouldn’t keep pace with projected inflation of about 2 percent a year – let alone with population growth of about 1 percent per year, the CBO adds.

    Still, most experts agree that there’s fat to be cut. While private-sector productivity chugged ahead at an annual pace of 1.5 percent or better during the 1990s, public-sector productivity held “almost flat,” according to a 2006 study by the consulting firm McKinsey.

    The question is where to cut, how to cut, and how fast.

    Sen. Tom Coburn (R) of Oklahoma has made it part of his job description to document examples of waste and duplicated effort in federal agencies.

    In “just the past two years, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has identified more than 1,362 duplicative programs accounting for at least $364.5 billion in federal spending every single year,” he wrote in a February letter to the White House Office of Management and Budget.

    That doesn’t mean $365.5 billion can be a quick and easy annual savings. Rather, policy experts say it means some of the programs could be consolidated and some eliminated.

    Improving worker productivity, such as through smartphone apps and other technology, could cut federal payroll costs substantially. Even President Obama’s own budget director agreed about that in a 2010 speech.

    ---

    Technology improves productivity in the private sector, but not the public sector.

    Whata shock.

    No doubt Obamacare will be the shining exception.

    ReplyDelete
  19. I find it, er, revealing, and it's not a pretty sight, that General Bunk's favorite President turns out to be Teddy R., the closest thing we've had to an imperialist, a man who wanted to kill 9 out of 10 of our Native American friends, and was still closely considering the case of the 10th.


    Bwwaaaahahahhahaha

    ....

    Now you mention it maybe I should send AIPAC a donation, but I'm low on money. I think I'll let that casino owner in Vegas cover my load for now.

    .........

    "
    I've just started writing another children's book, Chuckles Joins Another Organization, subtitled, Whoopsie, He Did It Again."

    We all know your writing is juvenal, Quirk, but how old are these kids for whom you are writing?

    Your writing is generally of the 'da-da daddy' variety. I am thinking you may be striving to write above your natural level.

    A concerned reader and fan........

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We were reading your books to our kids when they were 2 and 3 years old, Quirk. We, and they, thought you were great. Especially "Da-da Daddy and Ma-ma Mommy: My Friends". Especially the scene where Daddy is dressed as Grand Daddy, as a joke and recognition scene. Pure genius. Great teaching tool for the kids about keeping relationship straight.

      Delete
    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. .



      We all know your writing is juvenal, Quirk, but how old are these kids for whom you are writing?

      Your writing is generally of the 'da-da daddy' variety. I am thinking you may be striving to write above your natural level.




      Striving to write above my natural level? Well we know you will never be accused of that. Even this short post of yours is a little confusing.

      You say you worry I'm trying to write above my natural level, yet, just prior to that you compare me to the great Roman poet and satirist, Juvenal.

      I know you, an English major, wouldn't be so juvenile as to misspell the word juvenile.

      Perhaps, I should send you a copy of my next next book Spelling and Word Power for Dummies to round out your vast collection of "For Dummies" books.

      .

      Delete
    4. Damn, I admit I was thinking of that poet as being such a contrast to you when I wrote that.

      I apologize for a mind that sometimes wanders.

      By the way, I am still politely awaiting your apology to me.

      I am not expecting it any day now.

      You capon, you castrated rooster, you.

      Delete

    5. Thinking?

      :)

      Bob, you know trying to think always gives you a headache. Similarly, stay away from mental duels with the old Quirkster. You know, or should know, that you are seriously ill-equipped and undermanned for that type of exercise.


      As for the apology, I am still waiting for your link and the context within which you say the words were spoken. I know this is putting a tremendous burden on you since your thinking processes are so simple and lacking in nuance. However, answering questions about past posts regarding the 'legality' of the "Drone Wars" requires a bit more detail. I know this concept is a bit subtle for your mind to grasp, but concentrate, not to the point that it hurts, though.

      I have never, to my knowledge called drone wars illegal. Drones are an efficient offensive weapon and I have nothing against them as such. Although at some point we could further discuss whether giving them the primacy they are currently being given is wise policy, but that's another question.

      Now, if you want to address current 'drone policy' that is another matter, but again, one that requires context. For instance, in my discussions with rat regarding the AUMF, we were talking specifically adout U.S. law. There I argued that the drone war as interpreted using Obama's expansive interpretation of the AUMF while currently 'legal' was very likely 'unconstitutional'. Here, I was referring to Obama's attempts to gut the Constitution by asserting that he had the right to do away with habeas corpus and assassinate American citizens without warrant, charge, or trial.

      There have also been discussions of 'specific aspects' of Obama's drone policies such as signature strikes and double-taps. While Obama will deny that any of these practices are 'illegal' he is obviously wrong. Double-taps for instance, are condemned by the Geneva Conventions, a treaty the U.S. is signatory to. Those specific attacks are clearly illegal under international law and as long as the U.S. is a signatory that opinion is binding on us.

      I realize all of this is kind of confusing to you. It is a little complicated. Why don't you rest and think about it. Not too hard though old timer. You still want to be able to make it to free t-shirt night.

      You come back when you are rested and have your big-boy pants on and bring your little linkie-poo so we can see the context and Uncle Quirk will try to explain it all to you in simple Da-da Daddy language so that you can understand.

      That's our good boy.

      .

      Delete
  20. I can imagine that back in the day General Bunker would have joined up with Teddy, and taught the folks how ride horses.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Might have, a few fellas from Prescott went on that adventure to Cuba.

      All of our Presidents had their virtues, and vices.
      Being, after all, merely mortal.

      Teddy had both virtues and vices.
      He did expand the power of the executive branch.
      He was a Trust Buster.

      He did know the dangers involved in 'Balkinizing' the United States, rather than promoting the melting pot theme.

      Look at where hyphenating America has gotten US. Racial quotas, ethnic quotas, government documents in languages other than English, translators provided.
      English as a Second Language programs debilitating our schools.

      Teddy was correct about the corrosive effects we'd see on the body politic if legitimizing the hyphenating of Americans became became the norm.

      Hyphenating America is divisive to the Nation, on the very face of it.

      Delete
    2. In the main I agree with you about hyphenating Americans.

      Which doesn't at all mean, in my world anyway, that one can't be concerned about affairs in one's 'old world' country. I am concerned about how things are going in Sweden for instance. They seem not to be going so well right now, what with all the trouble from the 'Islamic/Swedes' there.

      The idiot ollies let them in, now what?

      Delete
    3. That is their challenge, not ours.

      Delete
  21. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes Quirk, it should have read 'how to ride horses'. Another error. Due to fast typing.

      But we've always wondered why in one of your books it says 'Ba-ba Baby went bed now'? Even after the proof reading.

      Delete
    2. .

      Don't worry, Bob. We're used to it. It's kind of cute. Reminds me of my days in grade school.

      .

      Delete
  22. Farm Bill coming up -

    >>Politicians get all weepy when they talk about the "family farm" and such. And while there is still something to said for the small businessman who farms for a living, most of the goodies in the bill will not be going to them. Instead, the gigantic corporate farmers will be the beneficiaries of congressional largess.<<

    May 14, 2013
    The farm bill is a real porker
    Rick Moran

    http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2013/05/the_farm_bill_is_a_real_porker.html

    And what has Farmer Bob been saying all these years? --

    Farmer Bob has been saying it is the small actual working farmers, especially the beginners, who should be helped on their way, and not the already wealthy. Because Farmer Bob believes we have too few people out in the country side now, and too many in the cities.

    The Ag Department also should name change to Nutrition Department or some such, as that is where most of the money goes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Why subsidize any of those corporate farmers?

      Does the government subsidize dry cleaners?
      Delicatessens?

      Know a fella got a $300,000 Federal loan to "get to ranchin"
      Watching it ruin him.

      Delete
  23. Rufus, you really ought to express some indignation at least over this targeting by Obama of political opponents. The last time this was done by Republicans in any big way was by Nixon. And it helped to bring him down. Shillary and Bill did it somewhat.

    This does seem quite bad.

    Targeting Jews - one of the reasons I joined AIPAC.

    Targeting Tea Party folks and groups - I may formally join one now.

    Targeting anyone with the word 'patriot' - this should tick YOU off.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Should have used the FBI, but these folks were not suspected of criminal activity.
      Just had to verify that 51% of their funds went to non-political expenditures.

      So as to qualify for tax exempt status.

      What is humorous, no one wonders why any of these corporate or political groups should be able to qualify for tax exempt status. Why that has become the norm.

      Why have wide swathes of political enterprise become tax exempt?

      Using the IRS a serious messaging miscalculation, again, by Team Obama.
      The IRS's key word search for preliminary audit, not politically correct.

      Obama's message masseuses are not quite enough
      He better find a bone cracking chiropractor.

      Delete
    2. Mr Obama burned by the bureaucrats at the IRS and the culture at the CIA.

      Are we looking at 44 months of a Presidential "Lame Duck"?

      Or will he use the powers inherit in the office become 'relevant' again?
      Bill Clinton faced a similar moment.

      Dick Morris says he led Mr Clinton out of that wilderness.

      Parodied into a movie, as I recall ...

      "Wag the Dog" or some such.

      Delete


  24. Supreme Court won’t let farmer dodge Monsanto’s seed patents

    Justices rule 9-0 that Indiana farmer can't rely on a "blame-the-bean defense."


    by Joe Mullin - May 13 2013, 11:50am PDT


    A long-lasting court fight over patented soybeans is over, and agribusiness giant Monsanto has won.

    In a decision issued today, the US Supreme Court ruled 9-0 that Monsanto must be allowed to patent its seeds—and it must be able to punish farmers who try to dodge the patents.

    Farmers are compelled to sign a patent agreement when they buy Monsanto's Roundup Ready herbicide-resistant soybeans, promising that they won't use the seeds to produce additional crops. A small-time Indiana farmer, Vernon Bowman, tried to avoid signing that agreement by simply buying a batch of undifferentiated "bin grain" from a grain elevator. Bowman went ahead and sprayed his crops with glyphosate, knowing that because Monsanto's genetically altered seed has become ubiquitous in the food supply, around 90 percent of soybeans would have the Roundup Ready trait that provides resistance to that herbicide.

    Bowman also made a second generation of the crop. Monsanto sued, saying that even though the farmer didn't sign a contract, by reproducing its patented seeds he had committed patent infringement. Bowman lost in the lower courts and was ordered by pay $30,000, which has now grown to more than $80,000 with interest. Last year, the Supreme Court agreed to take the case; oral arguments were held in February.

    No “blame-the-bean” exception for making new seeds

    Users of Roundup Ready soybean seeds can consume their crop or sell it, but the one thing they're not allowed to do is save their harvested soybeans for replanting.

    Bowman bought Roundup Ready each year for his first crop and observed that restriction. But for his riskier second crop, he bought "commodity" soybeans that were intended for consumption, not planting. Still, he found that most of the soybeans had the Roundup Ready resistance trait because Monsanto's product is everywhere. Bowman ultimately planted eight crops in this manner.

    Monsanto sued and Bowman fought back. Monsanto's patent rights should be governed by "patent exhaustion," argued Bowman. Once they sell their seed one time, their rights end. The agriculture company was asking for an exception to the exhaustion doctrine according to the farmer.

    The Supreme Court didn't see it that way.

    "[I]t is really Bowman who is asking for an exception to the well-settled rule that exhaustion does not extend to the right to make new copies of the patented item," wrote Justice Elena Kagan for a unanimous court. "If Bowman was granted that exception, patents on seeds would retain little value."



    However, it is noteworthy and a bit worrisome that the court upheld a finding that Bowman was "copying" the soybeans by simply planting seeds and applying herbicide. In the court's view, that counts as "making" a new item—a patented item in this case—and so it is barred by the patent laws. Bowman argued that seeds are special because they naturally self-replicate. "[I]t was that planted soybean, not Bowman" that made the "copies" of Monsanto's invention, Bowman's lawyers argued.

    But the justices didn't accept this line of thinking, which they called a "blame-the-bean defense."

    Today's decision specifically avoids determining how patents might affect other self-replicating technologies that come up in the future. "In another case, the article's self-replication might occur outside the purchaser's control," notes Kagan.

    ReplyDelete
  25. Internal Revenue Service (IRS) office that targeted and harassed conservative tax-exempt groups during the 2012 election cycle gave the progressive group nine confidential applications of conservative groups whose tax-exempt status was pending.

    The commendable admission lends further evidence to the lengths the IRS went during an election cycle to silence tea party and limited government voices.

    ProPublica says the documents the IRS gave them were “not supposed to be made public”:

    The same IRS office that deliberately targeted conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status in the run-up to the 2012 election released nine pending confidential applications of conservative groups to ProPublica late last year... In response to a request for the applications for 67 different nonprofits last November, the Cincinnati office of the IRS sent ProPublica applications or documentation for 31 groups.

    Nine of those applications had not yet been approved—meaning they were not supposed to be made public. (We made six of those public, after redacting their financial information, deeming that they were newsworthy.)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Commendable:"

      Get it out before it is discovered by others.

      Pro Publica are Soros connected billionaire liberal apparatchiks that pass on such infor to media outlets.

      Delete
    2. May 1, 2013 – Embattled retailer JC Penney (NYSE: JCP) saw its shares surge on Friday after George Soros reported a 7.9% stake in the company.

      Delete
  26. (The Cincinatti office is the only one dedicated for dealing w/non-profits)

    ...the directives came from tne Washington office.

    ReplyDelete
  27. "Welcome to the USSA, comrade!

    Wait until a loved one needs an operation under Obamacare.

    "Sorry comrade, your Form 911-C/431 was not filled out completely.

    You may apply for this operation again in three months. NEXT!"

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Sorry, Comrade. You and your condition are being transferred to ((((((our special unit")))))).

      "Welcome, our Muslim Brotherhood friend of Allah! The head of the line for you, good neighbor!"

      see below

      Delete
  28. Hi to all, it's actually a pleasant for me to go to see this web site, it includes important Information.

    Stop by my blog: クロエ アウトレット

    ReplyDelete
  29. >>Z Street filed a lawsuit against the IRS in 2010 alleging that one of its attorneys were told its application for tax exemption was delayed and sent to a((((((((( “special unit…to determine whether the organization’s activities contradict the Administration’s public policies.”)))))))<<

    Read more: http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/israel-related-groups-also-pointed-to-irs-scrutiny-91298.html#ixzz2TJYRWGNR

    or

    http://www.politico.com/story/2013/05/israel-related-groups-also-pointed-to-irs-scrutiny-91298.html

    ((((("special unit"))))))

    Were any moslem groups targeted?

    You already know the answer to that.

    Join AIPAC now.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Bob, if you go to the National Convention, there will be 14,000 PROUD, Strong Americans of many ethnic backgrounds, races and pov's that all agree, America and Israel share values, ethics and outlook.

      Let the haters hate but AIPAC is a lay citizen group that is like none other.

      If you notice the legislation AIPAC endorses is always bi-partisan. It also is ALWAYS Pro-American interests.

      You will not find a more patriotic group.

      I remember this year listening to an African American Baptist preacher giving a talk about Israel and how Israel moved him and made him see how America was as great a nation as she is. It took a trip to Israel to open his eyes about America and israel. Now he is a strong advocate of both nations security and success.

      If you go next year?

      We can have dinner!

      Delete
    2. Absolutely love to!

      When and where is it?

      I will really try to make that.

      Delete
    3. contact the aipac office in your region!

      they will be happy to fill ya in

      Delete
  30. McCONNELL: 'We've Only Started to Scratch the Surface of This Scandal'...
    FRANKLIN GRAHAM: IRS TARGETED US, TOO...
    Rev. Billy Graham Endorsed Romney...
    IRS requests stalled applications of conservative groups up to 13 months...
    'They were asking for a U-Haul truck's worth of information'...
    (((((((((((Official speedily approved exemption for Obama's brother's 'charity'...))))))))))
    'Corrective actions have not been fully implemented'...


    IRS LEAKED INFO ON CONSERVATIVES TO MEDIA

    ReplyDelete
  31. Gosnell chooses the sanctity of life -

    >>>Philadelphia (CNN) -- A Philadelphia abortion provider found guilty of first-degree murder has agreed give up his right to appeal in exchange for avoiding a possible death sentence, Philadelphia's district attorney's office announced Tuesday.

    Dr. Kermit Gosnell, 72, was convicted Monday on three counts of murder for killing babies by cutting their spinal cords with scissors.

    The next step in the case was to have been the penalty phase, when jurors would have weighed whether to give Gosnell a death sentence.<<<


    Abortion doctor convicted of murder waives appeal, avoids death sentence


    From Sarah Hoye, CNN

    updated 7:15 PM EDT, Tue May 14, 2013

    http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/14/justice/pennsylvania-abortion-doctor-trial/index.html

    No spinal cord scissors clipping for Gosnell.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If he coulda done it to himself, he woulda.

      Delete
  32. The Congressional Budget Office’s annual update of its 10-year fiscal forecasts should – though it’s not clear it will – shape congressional deliberations on taxes and spending this year. The CBO numbers offer an alternative to partisan rhetoric and convenient assumptions, a starting point or baseline against which various proposals can be measured.

    ...

    In February, CBO projected that the deficit for the current fiscal year, which ends Sept. 30, would come in around $845 billion, reduced by a recovering economy. Now it is saying it expects a deficit of $642 billion, significantly smaller than last year’s $1.087 trillion deficit.

    ...

    CBO says that if current policies stick – and then means sticking with the sequester and legislated cuts in Medicare doctor fees – then the deficit will go from 4.0% of gross domestic product this year to 3.5% next year and 2.2% in 2015 as the economy recovers, but then deficits will start climbing again, primarily because of projected spending on health care. By 2023, it’ll be up to 4.7% of GDP and that assumes all goes well with the economy.

    ReplyDelete
  33. You read it here, first. I said, on these pages, a week ago. I quote, make that, paraquote, "I expect the deficit to be closer to $645 Billion, than the $845 Billion the CBO is estimating."

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Having said that, any estimates for more than 3 months out are suspect. A year is totally useless. Too much can change.

      Delete
  34. The IRS targeting of conservative groups is far broader than first reported, with nearly 500 organizations singled out for additional scrutiny, according to two lawmakers briefed by the agency.

    ...

    The lawmakers disclosed the additional information in a letter Tuesday to Lois Lerner, the IRS official who first disclosed the inappropriate practice.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. .

      ...Lois Lerner, the IRS official who first disclosed the inappropriate practice.

      Who first disclosed the inappropriate practice?

      That makes it sound like she is a wistleblower or something. As I recall from reading on this over the last couple days, she was the official in charge of this fiasco and, as for reporting it, she knew about it back in 2011.

      .

      Delete
    2. This one is way to easy ...

      Didn't know there was only one office handling tax exempt applications.
      Nor that they had divulged information to third parties.

      Someone will burn on this one.
      Publicly.

      Delete
  35. As for Teddy R.

    I'm not so sure that he was as much a "trust-buster," as he was a 'buster of the "others"' trusts.'

    His gang seemed to come out pretty well in the Panama deal.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. There is that, but it got built, after a complete failure of the attempt by the French.

      Bully!

      He did alright against that Mohammedan in Libya
      "Perdicaris alive or Raisuli dead!"

      Got himself reelected, anyway.

      Delete
    2. Since they didn't bathe, the mosquitos were attracted to 'em, and that finished the cheese eaters off.

      Delete
  36. The strips have to be thin because cells need to be close to a supply of nutrients to stay alive. One approach to making thicker tissues — to make a cultured steak rather than a hamburger, for instance — would require developing a network of channels, the equivalent of blood vessels, to carry nutrients to each cell.

    ...

    Other researchers are studying different kinds of stem cells that, unlike myosatellite cells, can reproduce indefinitely, ensuring a “livestock-autonomous” supply of cells to make cultured meat. Dutch researchers at Utrecht University are trying to isolate embryonic stem cells from pigs and cows.

    And Nicholas Genovese of the University of Missouri is trying to develop a type of stem cell that is “induced” from a regular adult cell. So a skin cell from a pig, perhaps, could be turned into a stem cell that could reproduce indefinitely and differentiate into muscle tissue to create cultured pork.

    ReplyDelete
  37. (Reuters) - U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said on Tuesday he had ordered the FBI to open a criminal probe in a growing scandal over the Internal Revenue Service's targeting of conservative political groups for extra tax scrutiny.

    Holder's announcement came about four hours before an inspector general's report on the IRS portrayed the tax agency as plagued by disarray and "insufficient oversight" during its struggles to review the cases of hundreds of advocacy groups that claimed they should be tax exempt.


    The audit, which drew some backlash from IRS officials, also underscored what the agency had acknowledged last Friday: that the IRS had used "inappropriate criteria" for evaluating tax-exempt groups, in part by singling out scores of conservative Tea Party and "Patriot" organizations for increased scrutiny.

    The report by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration sharply criticized the way the IRS had screened the conservative groups, citing poor management and processing delays. The report suggested that such practices could damage public confidence in the agency.

    The criteria used to target the conservative groups "gives the appearance that the IRS is not impartial in conducting its mission,"

    ReplyDelete
  38. New information has come to light that confirms what many already knew to be fact. Top IRS officials were involved with targeting conservative groups and, at the very least, knew about the information and didn’t release it to Congress.

    ...

    Congress was not told tea party groups were being inappropriately targeted by the Internal Revenue Service, even after acting agency Chief Steven Miller had been briefed on the matter.

    ...

    Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La., had raised concerns with the IRS about complaints that tea party groups were being harassed. Boustany specifically mentioned tea party groups in his inquiry.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Hmm it appears like your blog ate my first comment (it was
    super long) so I guess I'll just sum it up what I wrote and say, I'm thoroughly enjoying
    your blog. I as well am an aspiring blog blogger but
    I'm still new to the whole thing. Do you have any suggestions for newbie blog writers? I'd definitely appreciate it.


    Feel free to visit my blog post: Cheap Louis Vuitton Bags

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes.

      Just quit bugging this place.

      The only possible buyer of a Cheap Louis Vuitton Bag here would be Quirk, and you have to check his hundred dollar bills closely.

      Delete
  40. The Obama administration is forecast to turn a record $51 billion profit this year from student loan borrowers, a sum greater than the earnings of the nation's most profitable companies and roughly equal to the combined net income of the four largest U.S. banks by assets.

    Figures made public Tuesday by the Congressional Budget Office show that the nonpartisan agency increased its 2013 fiscal year profit forecast for the Department of Education by 43 percent to $50.6 billion from its February estimate of $35.5 billion.

    Exxon Mobil Corp., the nation's most profitable company, reported $44.9 billion in net income last year. Apple Inc. recorded a $41.7 billion profit in its 2012 fiscal year, which ended in September, while Chevron Corp. reported $26.2 billion in earnings last year. JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo reported a combined $51.9 billion in profit last year.

    Worst Socialist, Evah

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Everyone sucks off the students.

      It's a national industry and way of life that has grown to gigantic proportions.

      And in addition, they get propagandized to death all the way through.

      So, the cycle continues.

      Delete
    2. Student Debt Clock

      Over a trillion dollars of student loan debt, it's a wonderful thing.

      Think how much freedom we woulda had with 100 k debt hanging over our heads at graduation.

      ...and unemployment of recent grads has now fallen to below 30 percent.

      Underemployment, part of the new normal.

      Disgusting liberal hack, Rufus II.

      Delete
  41. The London offices of BP and Shell have been raided by European regulators investigating allegations they have "colluded" to rig oil prices for more than a decade.

    The European commission said its officers carried out "unannounced inspections" at several oil companies in London, the Netherlands and Norway to investigate claims they may have "colluded in reporting distorted prices to a price reporting agency [PRA] to manipulate the published prices for a number of oil and biofuel products".

    The commission said the alleged price collusion, which may have been going on since 2002, could have had a "huge impact" on the price of petrol at the pumps "potentially harming final consumers".

    ReplyDelete
  42. HERE is an uplifting article that I found interesting -


    How Fishing Helps Veterans Heal -- and Land Jobs

    By Ed Nicholson - May 14, 2013

    >>>Looking for work can be a lot like fly-fishing. You don’t catch a fish with every cast, but as your skills and presentation improve, so do your chances of hooking into and eventually landing one. Another similarity is that coaching and mentoring will develop that skill set faster than trial and error.

    The past few years have seen a marked improvement in the unemployment rate for our most recent crop of veterans from Iraq and Afghanistan, yet the rate remains higher than that of their non-veteran peers. The service-connected disability rate for these particular veterans is also higher, 28 percent compared to 14 percent for the general veteran population. Those figures represent a new set of challenges for those who have already faced down so many because they answered the call of duty.

    I personally see the challenges they face. I started Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in 2005 as I saw our young, injured troops working to regain their mobility and functioning. More than just a “take a guy fishing” program, PHWFF works with the physical and occupational therapists at Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs medical facilities to provide regular classes in fly tying, fly casting and rod building. Each of those activities provides the opportunity to improve fine motor skills and adapt to physical limitations.

    As the wars progressed, we began seeing still other, “invisible,” injuries: post-traumatic stress disorder and traumatic brain injuries. These can complicate a veteran’s recovery due to their impact on concentration, mental recall, and compounding frustration.

    The fly tying classes worked there too, as the intricate steps of wrapping and gluing bits of feather, fur and yarn to a hook pulled veterans mentally into a new, adventurous and non-clinical world. That new world became a reality for them because, of course, we also took them fishing. The rhythmic activity of casting a fly line, the peaceful surroundings, and the camaraderie with other veterans works wonders in healing restless, hurting souls as well as bodies.<<<


    http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/05/14/how_fishing_helps_veterans_heal_--_and_land_jobs_118340.html

    ReplyDelete
  43. Concerning the IRS scandal, Bob Beckel, whom I am coming to like, is scratching his head on The Five on Fox, and wondering how anyone could be so stupid as to think this ham handed effort at intimidation would not end up in the server's lap like a hot bowl of spilled soup, or something.

    "How could anyone be so stupid....." were his words, the image mine.

    Some of us here, ahem, ahem, had Barky nailed as a moron from Day One.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Professional Democrats are worried -- 'a group of shadowy thugs'

    >>>... it is hard to not realize this is fully the fault of the administration that perception has gotten to this point. They have a small window- I’d say 2-5 days- to try and turn this around and hold on to a plausible veneer of not being a group of shadowy thugs.<<<

    "a plausible veneer" - bwahahahahahhah!

    “They have a small window to…hold on to a plausible veneer of not being a group of shadowy thugs.”

    posted at 5:36 pm on May 14, 2013 by Guy Benson

    http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/05/14/they-have-a-small-window-to-hold-on-to-a-plausible-veneer-of-not-being-a-group-of-shadowy-thugs/


    The whole thing is so.....so.....tragic!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rufus isn't worried though. He is not a Professional Democrat.

      He is just a -

      >>>"Disgusting liberal hack, Rufus II."<<<

      DougWed May 15, 02:30:00 AM EDT

      :)

      Delete
    2. Notice that this Professional Democrat is not in the least worried about Truth, but only Perception.

      >>>"the fault of the administration that perception has gotten to this point"<<<<

      Delete
  45. May 15, 2013
    The End of the Obama Illusion
    By Thomas Lifson




    >>>>President Obama is shattering the illusions of his supporters, and eyes are opening, even among his former media allies. As if waking from a slumber, a newly aggressive White House press corps yesterday raked Jay Carney over the coals over various lies and evasions, prompting Megyn Kelley of Fox News to quip, "What's happened? Who are these reporters who showed up here?"

    They are disillusioned and angry liberals who are starting to grasp that they have been lied to, who realize that a skeptical stance is necessary when examining a narrative offered by team Obama on Benghazi or the IRS scandal.

    Even worse, the media have discovered that they are themselves targets of government abuse, just like those Tea Partiers the IRS was picking on. The Associated Press, whose newsroom and reporters' personal phone line records were secretly subpoenaed, is collectively owned by members of the mainstream media. As the largest newsgathering organization in the country, it stands for media freedom itself in their minds. An attack on it is an attack on them.

    Right now, there's a lot of cognitive dissonance going on in the punditocracy: how could a constitutional law professor turn on the free press? Obama's just not behaving like the good guy they thought him to be. ((((Awkward questions of character are being raised in their minds.))))<<<<


    http://www.americanthinker.com/2013/05/the_end_of_the_obama_illusion.html


    Ah, character.

    Is not a good tragedy always finally about just that, character?

    It is not circumstance that finally brings the tragic protagonist low, but character.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not picking on Barky here, the same can be said about Shillary.

      Delete
  46. Great Information sharing .. I am very happy to read this article .. thanks for giving us go through info.Fantastic nice. I appreciate this post. work injury lawyers

    ReplyDelete