Hat Tip: Juan Cole
Is it unthinkable that one day these dots will be connected? Who would stop them? Do you have any doubt that human beings are incapable of any act of horror and can justify anything for the State? I don’t.
The FBI uses drones for domestic surveillance purposes, the head of the agency told Congress early Wednesday.
Robert Mueller, the director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, confirmed to lawmakers that the FBI owns several unmanned aerial vehicles, but has not adopted any strict policies or guidelines yet to govern the use of the controversial aircraft.
“Does the FBI use drones for surveillance on US soil?” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Mr Mueller during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Does the FBI use drones for surveillance on US soil?” Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) asked Mr Mueller during an oversight hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“Yes,” Mueller responded bluntly, adding that the FBI’s operation of drones is “very seldom.”
Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) to elaborate, Mueller added, “It’s very seldom used and generally used in a particular incident where you need the capability.” Earlier in the morning, however, Mueller said that the agency was only now working to establish set rules for the drone program.
Mueller began answering questions just after 10 a.m. EDT. He briefly touched on the recently exposed NSA surveillance program that has marred the reputation of the United States intelligence community. Mueller said 22 agents have access to a vast surveillance database, including 20 analysts and two overseers.
When Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) asked Mueller later in the morning if he’d consider being more open about the FBI’s surveillance methods, the director expressed reluctance to be more transparent. Mueller said the FBI has and will continue to weigh the possibility of publishing more information about its spy habits, but warned that doing so would be to the advantage of America’s enemies.
“There is a price to be paid for that transparency,” Mueller said. “I certainly think it would be educating our adversaries as to what our capabilities are.”
Asked by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) to elaborate, Mueller added, “It’s very seldom used and generally used in a particular incident where you need the capability.” Earlier in the morning, however, Mueller said that the agency was only now working to establish set rules for the drone program.
Mueller began answering questions just after 10 a.m. EDT. He briefly touched on the recently exposed NSA surveillance program that has marred the reputation of the United States intelligence community. Mueller said 22 agents have access to a vast surveillance database, including 20 analysts and two overseers.
When Sen. Al Franken (D-Minnesota) asked Mueller later in the morning if he’d consider being more open about the FBI’s surveillance methods, the director expressed reluctance to be more transparent. Mueller said the FBI has and will continue to weigh the possibility of publishing more information about its spy habits, but warned that doing so would be to the advantage of America’s enemies.
“There is a price to be paid for that transparency,” Mueller said. “I certainly think it would be educating our adversaries as to what our capabilities are.”
I think our enemies are quite certain of what we are capable of doing, our fellow countrymen less so.
ReplyDeleteThere is a bigger price to be paid for less transparency.
ReplyDeleteWe are all Mujahideen now.
ReplyDeleteWe have been, since allowing the bin Laden family to leave he US, on 13SEP2001
Delete“Even though American airspace had been shut down,” Sky News reported, “the Bush administration allowed a jet to fly around the US picking up family members from 10 cities, including Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston and Houston.”
“Two dozen members of Osama bin Laden’s family were urgently evacuated from the United States in the first days following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington,” CBS reported.
“Most of bin Laden’s relatives were attending high school and college,” the article continued. “Many were terrified, fearing they would be lynched after hearing reports of violence against Muslims and Arab-Americans.”
The skies over America in the days following 9/11 were in lock-down mode yet the entire family of America’s number one enemy is released without due question.
Is there a better way to sabotage an in-depth investigation against the world’s premier evil mastermind than to release all of his family members before any in-depth question-and-answer session had taken place? Personally, I cannot imagine it. Think about it. What about possible phone calls to ( or from) bin Laden from family members that should have been examined? Or emails? (After all, bin Laden, despite spending most of his time in caves, is an allegedly tech-savvy guy). These take weeks to fully examine. Perhaps there was an incriminating clue somewhere, a hint, a code? There is even the possibility, despite the fact that the bin Ladens have apparently ostracized Osama, that at least one of them was sympathetic to his cause. But it would only have taken one to get mountains of valuable information. Finally, the decision seemed to be politically unattractive. Still, even that did not deter the authorities from giving the bin Ladens yet more frequent flier miles.
DeleteMoreover, the United States has proven itself to be somewhat adept at using “intense interrogation” techniques to extract information from co-conspirators. Did any official float the idea of applying a little bit of pressure, you know, in classic good cop, bad cop routines that we’ve seen a million times in Hollywood films, to one or two bin Laden family members in order to get one of the others to spill the beans? Apparently not.
Mea Culpa, the bin Laden's left the US on 14SEP2001, same day the Congress authorized the use of force against those that the President perceived to be the enemy.
DeleteNot the day before.
Sorry for the confusion.
In total it seems that 140 Saudis were evacuated from the US, in the immediate aftermath of the 11SEP2001 terrorist raids on NYCity and Washington DC.
We were allied with the Wahhabi Mujahideen on the 14th of September, the same day the Congress authorized the war against them.
Coincidence never goes away.
Never having been a coincidence to begin with.
The prophet willing, of course.
ReplyDeleteThe question the we all face is a simple one:
ReplyDeleteAre we willing to exchange our humanity for temporary politicians at the service of their masters and intimidators?
California in the red by $127.2 billion, state auditors say
ReplyDeleteA financial report issued by state auditors finds that the state of California is in the red by an unsustainable $127.2 billion.
The report says that the state’s negative status increased that year, largely because it spent $1.7 billion more than it received in revenues and wound up with an accumulated deficit of just under $23 billion in fiscal year 2011-2012, the Sacramento Bee stated.
Gov. Jerry Brown has referred to the deficit and other budget gaps, mostly money owed to schools, as a “wall of debt” totaling more than $30 billion, the Sacramento Bee reported.
About half of the deficit came from the state issuing general obligation bonds and then giving the money to local governments and school districts for public works projects. The report listed California’s long-term obligations at $167.9 billion, nearly half of which ($79.9 billion) were in general obligation bonds, with another $30.8 billion in revenue bonds, the Sacramento Bee reported.
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127.2 / 1,700,000,000,000 = 0.0748 or approx. 7.5% of GDP.
ReplyDeleteAbout 1/10th that of the U.S. as a whole.
Not too bad for the world's 10th largest economy.
Especially since they are in Surplus, today.
It helps that, of the world's leading economies, only Germany received more of their electricity from renewables, yesterday. This will really pay off a few years down the road when their wind, and solar farms are paid-off, and the rest of the world is bidding for increasingly scarce (and expensive) fossil fuels.
Delete20% from Renewables, yesterday
DeleteFor RufieII
DeleteThe California State Auditor has released the state government's audit for the 2011-12 year (PDF). The California State Auditor has released the state government's audit for the 2011-12 year (PDF). The state collected $218 billion (including $60 billion in federal aid, $104 billion in state taxes, and $51 billion in various fees and charges), but spent over $225 billion, a deficit twice the size of the year before.
On the books, the state has $199.9 billion in assets but $215.4 billion in liabilities; eliminating assets unpledgable against obligations results in an unrestricted net asset deficit of a staggering -$127 billion. Put succinctly, the state has booked $127 billion more in promises and liabilities than it has assets to pay for them. (Part of this is because the state borrows to build things for local governments but turns title over to them, which is running up debts.) It's been getting deeper every year.
The report did not include the full cost of state retiree health and pension costs, so the real amount is probably much higher.
In November, California raised its top income tax rate to 13.3 percent, now the highest in the country. The change was retroactive to the beginning of 2012 (as was a recent clawback of a business deduction), so a burst of revenue will likely happen in the short-term.,
In the long-term, it depends on your worldview: does a high level of state spending promote economic growth, or will high taxes drag economic growth?
As for the drones - Can you think of a better way to "follow" a suspected terrorist? (with a court order, of course.)
ReplyDeleteAirborne surveillance does not require a court order.
DeleteDoes not require a suspect.
This is settled law.
FLORIDA v. RILEY
CERTIORARI TO THE SUPREME COURT OF FLORIDA
No. 87-764.
Argued October 3, 1988
Decided January 23, 1989
JUSTICE WHITE, joined by THE CHIEF JUSTICE, JUSTICE SCALIA, and JUSTICE KENNEDY, concluded that the Fourth Amendment does not require the police traveling in the public airways at an altitude of 400 feet to obtain a warrant in order to observe what is visible to the naked eye. California v. Ciraolo, 476 U.S. 207 - which held that a naked-eye police inspection of the backyard of a house from a fixed-wing aircraft at 1,000 feet was not a "search" - is controlling. Thus, respondent could not reasonably have expected that the contents of his greenhouse were protected from public or official inspection from the air, since he left the greenhouse's sides and roof partially open. The fact that the inspection was made from a helicopter is irrelevant, since, as in the case of fixed-wing planes, private and commercial flight by helicopter is routine. Nor, on the facts of this case, does it make a difference for Fourth Amendment purposes that the helicopter was flying below 500 feet, the Federal Aviation Administration's lower limit upon the navigable airspace for fixed-wing craft. Since the FAA permits helicopters to fly [488 U.S. 445, 446] below that limit, the helicopter here was not violating the law, and any member of the public or the police could legally have observed respondent's greenhouse from that altitude. Although an aerial inspection of a house's curtilage may not always pass muster under the Fourth Amendment simply because the aircraft is within the navigable airspace specified by law, there is nothing in the record here to suggest that helicopters flying at 400 feet are sufficiently rare that respondent could have reasonably anticipated that his greenhouse would not be observed from that altitude. Moreover, there is no evidence that the helicopter interfered with respondent's normal use of his greenhouse or other parts of the curtilage, that intimate details connected with the use of the home or curtilage were observed, or that there was undue noise, wind, dust, or threat of injury. Pp. 449-452.
http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/cgi-bin/getcase.pl?court=us&vol=488&invol=445
good point.
DeleteThe "Conservative" Justices carried the day.
DeleteNo one has a reasonable expectation that they ... were protected from public or official inspection from the air ...
As long as drone flights are not illegal, there is no legal prtection from them.
Neither the FAA nor Congress will make those Federal law enforcement drone operations illegal.
What could be better than having Solar Panels fall from $70.00/Watt to $0.72/Watt?
ReplyDeleteHow About $0.36/Watt?
Right on time.
ReplyDeleteIn the sixth year of the Great Depression (1936) the Federal Reserve "tightened," and knocked the slats out from under a strengthening economy.
Here we are going into the sixth year of a very slow recovery, and the Fed's doing it again.
Sheesh
Paul Krugman agrees with me.
ReplyDeletePotentially Tragic Taper
From Dylan Matthews at Wonkblog:
ReplyDelete"I went back through every June forecast the Fed has released from 2009 to this year. Each of those forecasts included projected growth, unemployment and inflation rates for the year in question and the two years after. So the 2009 projection forecast 2009, 2010, and 2011, the 2010 projection forecast 2010, 2011, and 2012, and so forth. And those forecasts just kept getting less and less optimistic as the years wore on:"
"As you can see above, in 2009 the Fed was predicting 4.2 percent growth in 2011. Awesome! But then in 2010 it revised that down to 3.85 percent growth. And in 2011 they revised it further to 2.8 percent growth. And when all was said and done, the economy only grew about 2.4 percent that year. The Fed projected growth almost twice as fast as what actually happened.
Same deal for 2012. The Fed’s first forecast, in 2010, projected 4 percent growth. 2011′s projections reduced that to 3.5 percent growth. 2012 knocked it down to 2.15 percent growth. And the final number was about 2 percent.
It’s worth noting that other projections have this problem too. As Andrew Fieldhouse and Josh Bivens at the Economic Policy Institute have noted, the CBO seems to always think that the economy will be back on track four years from whenever they happen to be making a projection."
Bad at Predicting
As I've stated before, I think we're in a hell of a lot bigger mess than many realize. It looks as if it takes about one percent of growth in the oil supply to create 3 percent growth in global gdp.
ReplyDeleteBack in the early to mid naughts the oil supply was growing by about 1.5%, and global gdp growth was running at approx. 4.5%.
Since 2005 the slowdown in oil supplies (approx. 0.2%, annually) has been offset, somewhat, by a couple of million bbls/day of ethanol coming on the market.
However, the ethanol boost is over. There is no new ethanol arriving anytime soon (probably at least 5 years for any significant infusion.)
On top of that, the meager increases in global oil production that we have seen in the last couple of years will, most likely, end, and even start to reverse, with the topping out of the U.S. shale plays in 2014 or 2015 (probably, 2014.)
Although it might be possible to have a small amount of growth with flat oil supplies, I don't see how there can be growth with declining oil production.
Add in a negative short to medium term employment outlook, due to advances in robotics/automation, and I'll be damned if this isn't starting to look more like a 20 yr problem than a ten year problem.
ymmv
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ReplyDeleteThe FED QE policies were able to move the needle when first introduced; however, they have been less and less effective each year they have continued.
The FED's current program does nothing to improve employment or increase growth. Instead, it merely feeds asset bubbles, primarily in the stock market. It does nothing for the economy nor the average Joe.
Corporations are sitting on huge profits and not putting them to work due to lack of additional demand and their ability to continue to hold labor costs low. They are buying back huge quantities of company stock but they are not using accunulated cash to do it, they are using borrowed money that they can get at cheap rates. Banks are increasing profits not by doing what banks traditionally do, lend money, but by using money borrowed for zip to invest in things like derivatives. The only people making money in the housing market are the big players and the flippers.
We knew the day would come when the punch bowl was emptied. It should have come a year or two ago. But let's face it, the current drop in the market is an overreaction. QE will still be arouind well into next year.
Monetary policy has run its course. The only way forward is through a sane fiscal policy.
I'll be glad when we get to the point were we can judge the market on fundamentals again.
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If you are still in the market, I strongly recommend you sell.
DeleteCattle prices are strong, horses, not so much.
DeleteGood dogs still can be sold at a premium.
Not so good dogs, worth a bullet.
So you also kill dogs as well?
DeleteI would never put a dog in a well.
DeleteAs for killing a dog, sure.
Just like they do at the pound.
You know, at the Humane Society.
What do you do with bad or sick old dogs, turn 'em loose, or do you let someone else kill it for you?
Delete.
ReplyDelete(CNN) -- Testifying before Congress on Wednesday, Gen. Keith Alexander, director of the National Security Agency, asserted that his agency's massive acquisition of U.S. phone data and the contents of overseas Internet traffic that is provided by American tech companies has helped prevent "dozens of terrorist events."
On Thursday, Sens. Ron Wyden and Mark Udall, Democrats who both serve on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and have access to the nation's most sensitive secrets, released a statement contradicting this assertion. "Gen. Alexander's testimony yesterday suggested that the NSA's bulk phone records collection program helped thwart 'dozens' of terrorist attacks, but all of the plots that he mentioned appear to have been identified using other collection methods," the two senators said.
Indeed, a survey of court documents and media accounts of all the jihadist terrorist plots in the United States since 9/11 by the New America Foundation shows that traditional law enforcement methods have overwhelmingly played the most significant role in foiling terrorist attacks.
This suggests that the NSA surveillance programs are wide-ranging fishing expeditions with little to show for them.
http://www.cnn.com/2013/06/17/opinion/bergen-nsa-spying/index.html?hpt=op_t1
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DeleteHomegrown jihadist extremists have mounted 42 plots to conduct attacks within the United States since 2001. Of those plots, nine involved an actual terrorist act that was not prevented by any type of government action, such as the failed attempt by Faisal Shahzad to blow up a car bomb in Times Square on May 1, 2010.
Of the remaining 33 plots, the public record shows that at least 29 were uncovered by traditional law enforcement methods, such as the use of informants, reliance on community tips about suspicious activity and other standard policing practices.
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DeleteHumint vs Sigint.
From the FBI's page talking of Intelligence gathering,
Both TELINT and ELINT can be types of SIGINT and contribute to MASINT.
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The question I found interesting, of the General ...
Deleteparaphrasing, of course ...
Question - "Does the NSA have the ability to monitor communications in the US?"
Answer - "We do not have the authority to do that"
Another piece of misinformation puzzle.
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DeleteI noticed that too while watching him on TV.
The McNamara Syndrome.
All busswords and bullshit.
Yet, few actually listen to what they are 'actually' saying or not saying. The guy asking the original question just moved on. However, I have seen that there are a few guys doing the questioning these days that are getting pretty sharp at spotting when they are being snowed.
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Deuce, old man, I'm afraid you have well, and truly jumped the shark on this post.
ReplyDeleteI was distracted this morning, and didn't get around to watching, or thinking about, the video. I finally did, just a moment ago.
Deuce, that man was no "paid assassin." He was a soldier (Airman, I guess.) He was assigned a job, given a legal order, and he did his job (evidently, very well.)
ReplyDelete>>>DeuceThu Jun 20, 05:41:00 AM EDT
The prophet willing, of course.<<<
Deuce you simply have not read your you Islamic literature.
Over there everything is the will of the prophet.
Joseph Campbell has this wonderful few pages where he draws a ling down through pre Islamic Iran and explains how east of this line there was no individualism at all.
Nothing. All role playing.
You are not yourself. Your just play your role.
My divine niece is still fighting the outlook.
She has had the courage to walk right out of a brutal relationship. And hightail to Germany.
And I am buying her a car.
In the old days she would have been required, if her brutal husband had died first, to burn herself to death on his funeral pyre in an act of sati.
She has said fuck that shit and is now at the Max Planck Institute in Germany and if he comes back here he is immediately arrested.
LONG LIVE THE LIINGERING EFFECTS OF BRITISH IMPERIALISM!!!!!!
bob
And I have remembered how our sage Desert Rat said once upon an Arizona moon how there was individualism in Islam.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sick joke and stupidity.
Israel looks damn good in comparison.
bob
Fuck you, you lying sack of shit.
DeleteGive us the time and place that I said that.
Or admit you've told us another of your fanciful fabrications.
Time and Place?
DeleteWe are still waiting for you to produce the quote about Hitler!
Lying sack of shit YOU are...
Remember that old saying Rodent?
Produce it or shut the fuck up...
No, I learned my lessons from the quot.
DeleteI will provide the time, anyone that wants, they can go look.
More than quot or boobie could ever provide, when they accused me of confessing to murder.
boobie said it was confession by euphemism, which wuld be no confession at all.
quot provided the standard, I have surpassed it.
Then my assertions of your actual criminal past are just as true.
Deleteyou a self confessed criminal.
You who hacked into a FBI database and bragged about are the criminal.
I only hope the NSA is watching you...
A domestic terrorist perhaps you are?
And that is why the Greeks are so good.
ReplyDeleteThey first began to talk about people.
And our divine Shakespeare after.
bob
Culture counts, big time.
ReplyDeletebob
Is that why you advocated for killing black babies, in November of 2008?
DeleteProduce the exact quote in context.
DeleteI wonder how long it took you scanning the back threads to FIND a quote that you can now demand someone demand you to produce it?
Took no time, I did have to scan for a thing.
Deleteboobie's remarks were so offensive, we, all of us that were here, remember his remarks in November of 2008
Just as Deuce and I recall that two days after the Patriot Day bombing, the Israeli made statements concerning his father and Hitler.
DeleteBoth the Israeli and Hitler advocated for genocide.
Hitler in Europe, the Israeli in Palestine.
The Israeli government supported genocide in Guatemala, from 1975 through the 1980's, as documented by honest and truthful Israelis who were there, at the time.
"Took no time, I did have to scan for a thing."
Deleteshould have read ...
"Took no time, I did not have to scan for a thing."
My error, such as it was.
I certainly do.
DeleteSo you cannot post the quote.
DeleteLike I said, you are a liar.
So shut the fuck up.
In a word ...
Delete... NO.
As an anoni, you have no standing here.
DeleteNone.
and in a word?
DeleteThanks.
Really...
Your words are priceless.
"Both the Israeli and Hitler advocated for genocide.
Hitler in Europe, the Israeli in Palestine.
The Israeli government supported genocide in Guatemala, from 1975 through the 1980's, as documented by honest and truthful Israelis who were there, at the time."
Thank you for proving once again what a deranged, anti-semite you are.
Your words are now part of the blog forever.
Please continue to PROVE to anyone that reads this blog that you are a wack job.
With posters like you as a EB blog friend? Who needs enemies.
Almost all of the earnings growth the last couple of years has come from cost-cutting. Median income is still going nowhere. Now, China's money is turning funny.
ReplyDeleteEurope is in full-fledged recession (for the third time in five years,) and Brazil is coming unraveled.
The Chinese are following the Japanese, into a debt death spiral.
DeleteThe US just keeps moving forward, poorly by historical standards, but quite well in comparison to our competitors.
The Brazilian unrest, fully economic, ignited by a bus fare increase.
In the US, the unrest comes over who has tax exemptions for political activity.
Over a program that has been approved and funded by Congress three times, in 2002, 2006 and 2011. Which USA Today reported upon, pretty extensively, in 2006. Which the telecom and Inet providers were granted immunity from law suit, by Congress, in 2002.
Yep, it was sure a secret.
If you did not want to know about it.
Saw that the Turkish government is rolling out the water cannons.
No rubber bullets, yet.
Yes, China just might have replaced its magic levitation powder.
DeleteWe'll be the last man standing, but we might not be all that pretty.
Compared to who, rufus?
DeleteOur old prom picture, or the rest of the class, today?
Let alone tomorrow.
They've all got scurvy.
We've got lots of oranges.
DeleteMY old prom picture wasn't all that hot, either. :)
DeleteWe have this goofy, insane, ridiculous political system that elevates the nuttiest of the nutty, malfeasant, ne'erdowells in the universe into positions of enormous power, and, yet, somehow, arguably, works better than any other.
DeleteIt seems the crazies on the right balance off the crazies on the left just well enough to allow the country to work. Abundant natural resources don't hurt, either. And, the Constitution IS a hell of a document.
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DeleteSpeaking of goofy, insane, ridiculous,
GOP leader resigns after 'street walker' rant
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois Republican official resigned from his leadership post Thursday amid outrage over an email in which he berated a biracial former Miss America as a "street walker" who could fill a law firm's "minority quota" if she loses her bid for Congress.
The controversy, involving a county GOP leader in central Illinois who campaigned for U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, created a new rift for Republicans already struggling to expand and attract women and minority voters.
Davis demanded the resignation of the county official, Jim Allen, after learning of what he called a "wrong, appalling and incredibly demeaning" email targeting Erika Harold, Davis' opponent in the March 2014 Republican primary.
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"I hope some of these bullies learn a lesson from this," he told the Associated Press on Thursday. "Our party has a huge branding problem nationwide, especially in Illinois. This guy's attitude sets us back. It's confirmation as to why women and minorities don't take the Republican party seriously."
DeleteHe being Republican blogger Doug Ibendahl a former Republican party official who posted the email from Jim Allen, the official who has resigned, Wednesday on his website.
(Reuters) - Brazil's biggest protests in two decades intensified on Thursday despite government concessions meant to quell the demonstrations, as 300,000 people took to the streets of Rio de Janeiro and hundreds of thousands more flooded other cities.
ReplyDeleteUndeterred by the reversal of transport fare hikes that sparked the protests, and promises of better public services, marchers demonstrated around two international soccer matches and in locales as diverse as the Amazon capital of Manaus and the prosperous southern city of Florianopolis.
"Twenty cents was just the start," read signs held by many converging along the Avenida Paulista, the broad avenue in central Sao Paulo, referring to the bus fare reductions.
In the capital, Brasilia, tens of thousands of protesters by early evening marched around the landmark modernist buildings that house Congress, the Supreme Court and presidential offices.
The swelling tide of protests prompted President Dilma Rousseff to cancel a trip next week to Japan, her office said.
The targets of the protests, now in their second week, have broadened to include high taxes, inflation, corruption and poor public services ranging from hospitals and schools to roads and police forces.
With an international soccer tournament as a backdrop, demonstrators are also denouncing the more than $26 billion of public money that will be spent on the 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics, two events meant to showcase a modern, developed Brazil.
Meanwhile the Republican Party continues to implode ...
ReplyDeleteSPRINGFIELD, Ill. — An Illinois Republican official resigned from his leadership post Thursday amid outrage over an email in which he berated a biracial former Miss America as a "street walker" who could fill a law firm's "minority quota" if she loses her bid for Congress.
The controversy, involving a county GOP leader in central Illinois who campaigned for U.S. Rep. Rodney Davis, created a new rift for Republicans already struggling to expand and attract women and minority voters.
Davis demanded the resignation of the county official, Jim Allen, after learning of what he called a "wrong, appalling and incredibly demeaning" email targeting Erika Harold, Davis' opponent in the March 2014 Republican primary.
Sent to Republican blogger Doug Ibendahl, the email referred to Harold as a "street walker" and "love child" of Democrats and suggested the Harvard graduate could fill a "minority quota" at a law firm should she lose the race.
Ibendahl, also a former party official, posted the email Wednesday on his website.
"I hope some of these bullies learn a lesson from this," he told the Associated Press on Thursday. "Our party has a huge branding problem nationwide, especially in Illinois. This guy's attitude sets us back. It's confirmation as to why women and minorities don't take the Republican party seriously."
ISTANBUL — The Obama administration’s decision last week to send weapons to Syrian rebels has made the United States more dependent than ever on Turkey — at the same time that Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s ability to act on Syria may be newly constrained.
ReplyDeleteThe protests rocking Turkey this month have given new life to old grievances among those opposed to Erdogan, and his active support for the Syrian rebels is on the list. Now, as the United States needs Turkey’s help to get weapons into the hands of those fighters, Erdogan faces the threat of more street protests the moment he pursues unpopular policies.
In fiery speeches, the Turkish leader has vowed to continue targeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and top U.S. officials have spoken to their Turkish counterparts repeatedly in recent days to coordinate Syria policy. But with a refugee crisis along the Turkish-Syrian border and increasing Syria-related violence on Turkish soil, many Turks say they wish their leader had never become embroiled in the sectarian conflict next door.
The need for Erdogan’s cooperation on Syria has tempered the Obama administration’s repeated condemnations of police violence against Turkish demonstrators, analysts say, despite U.S. surprise at his hard-line approach toward those who have turned to the streets primarily to protest encroachments on personal liberties. As the United States and Turkey’s government navigate what comes next, many demonstrators say that a mental barrier to voicing dissent has been broken, even as Erdogan and his associates have blamed terrorists, foreigners, Jews and news organizations for stoking unrest in the country.
From now on, “anytime the government comes up with a controversial policy, it will find opposition on the streets, organized through demonstrations,” said Soner Cagaptay, a Turkey expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. On Syria, he said, “Turkey and the United States will compete to lead from behind,” cautiously inching forward on involvement while allowing other countries to go farther in their commitments to the rebels.
The political and human risks of Erdogan’s support for the Syrian rebels were underlined May 11, when two car bombs killed at least 52 people and injured more than 140 in the border town of Reyhanli. Erdogan swiftly blamed Assad’s security forces for the attack, and although Turkish officials have offered no definitive evidence, the conclusion is widely shared among Turks, who cited it as one reason for their objections to Erdogan’s Syria policy. The 363,000 Syrian refugees on Turkish soil are another, with many Turks voicing sympathy for the displaced people but saying they have scarce resources to deal with the influx.
In answer to our Desert Crapper, it is true that I said out of the depth of my disgust of life inks in the inner cities cannot do more than impregnate and abort, and kill themselves in gunfights, then let them. It is their problem now.
ReplyDeleteMy Hindu niece, when curled up in my arms one day, said "BobI wanted to have children with him. I want to have my children one day."
This is a difference in culture, and life is cheap in the east.
She is a wonderful woman, and is not going to throw her children away like rag dolls.
bob
She was distraught.
DeleteAnd was thinking of her future.
And her possible children.
So, fuck you Desert Rat.
She would never ever want you as mate.
bob
I certainly do not care who your niece mates with.
DeleteI do care about babies in the US. Black, brown or pink.
I do not judge the babies by their mothers, even less by their fathers.
You, boobie, do not judge folks by the content of their character, but by the color of their skin or the religious sect they subscribe to.
You do not even want to allow black babies the opportunity to be judged on their own merits or accomplishments. You advocated killing them in their mothers' womb.
Certainly no one that held the Declaration of Independence to be central to the American creed would stoop so low, in frustration over losing a partisan election.
No, only a pig would be so shallow, so disrespectful of the principles that have made the United States great.
You deny that all men are created equal, deny that they are endowed by their creator with inalienable rights.
DeleteYou would deny babies life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness based on the color of their skin.
You are the lowest of the low, pig is to good a description for the likes of you.
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ReplyDeleteSnyder blasts Senate for shelving Medicaid bill
Lansing — Republican senators dealt Gov. Rick Snyder’s agenda a major setback Thursday when the Senate declined to vote on a massive expansion of the Medicaid health insurance program for the poor in the face of conservative opposition.
With a narrow timetable for Michigan to decide whether it will add more than 400,000 low-income residents to its Medicaid rolls, Snyder offered an unusual criticism of fellow Republicans on Thursday for adjourning for a two-month summer recess.
“Take a vote, not a vacation,” Snyder said about Senate Republicans. “I call on Michiganders to stand with me, (and) I ask you to sustain that effort until we get that ‘yes’ vote.”
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130620/POLITICS02/306200084#ixzz2Wp2Dpc8P
If Rick Snyder could make it through the primaries, he might make a good candidate for the GOP in 2016. He is a no-nonsense moderate and he's brought Michigan back from basket case to the point we are carrying a surplus. There are some things (the ones that affected me) I didn't like but all in all he ahs done a pretty good job.
Those on the left may be against him because Michigan became a right-to-work state this year; however, that wasn't Snyder's fault it was the unions. Last year, the GOP tried to pass through tougher measures on the unions and their benefits similar to what Scott Walker did in Wisconsin. Snyder fought it and the bills were defeated. However, the unions weren't satisfied and put a proposal on the ballot that would have made collective bargaining a right for public and private workers which would have required changes in the Constitution. Snyder warned them not to try to over play their hand since the GOP had been talking about trying to make MI a right-to-work state for some time.
The union proposal failed. And a pissed off GOP rammeds the right-to-work bill through. Snyder had other priorities and wasn't real enthused about the issue but he signed it into law.
He also brought in the emergancy manager for Detroit which pissed off a lot of people but there was little else he could do.
All in all, IMO, he has done a pretty good job. I'm sure he's partisan, but for the most part he seems to have held it in check.
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DeleteAh, the games we play.
The federal government’s offer to cover all expansion costs through 2016 and gradually fall to 90 percent by 2020 would save the state more than $200 million a year. Snyder proposed putting half of the savings in a trust fund to cover the state’s added costs in later years.
Senate Majority Leader Randy Richardville, R-Monroe, acknowledged the bill likely had the minimum 20 votes to pass — 12 Democrats and eight Republicans — but said he was reluctant to hold a vote without the support of half or 13 of the chamber’s 26 Republicans.
“I want to make sure this is truly bipartisan,” said Richardville, who added the bill isn’t dead and would be reviewed by a summer work group.
http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130620/POLITICS02/306200084#ixzz2WpC3qRCR
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The governor in AZ had a similar challenge.
DeleteShe overcame it. Got the legislation passed.
Oh, the faux outrage from some of the GOP legislators, it was a sight to see.
Even AZ is trending Blue, now.
The governor acknowledges reality, some of her cohort, not so much.
Seems the same is true in Lansing, but the governor there does not have the stuff that Jan Brewer is made of. If Rick Snyder cannot manage his own Party, in his own state, well, DC would eat him alive.
He is not qualified to be President, not if he is unable to successfully manage the 13 Republicans in the Michigan Senate.
Jan Brewer would be a better choice for a GOP Presidential candidate, as she could get the legislature to at least hold a vote on the Medicare legislation.
Which then passed with limited GOP support.
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DeleteAs I said, Snyder tries to work with both sides but he knows how to get things done. I will let you know when the Medicaid legislation actually gets passed as I expect it will be.
I know little about Brewer except her stance on immigration which SCOTUS seems to have a few problems with.
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For RufieII
ReplyDeleteThe California State Auditor has released the state government's audit for the 2011-12 year (PDF). The California State Auditor has released the state government's audit for the 2011-12 year (PDF). The state collected $218 billion (including $60 billion in federal aid, $104 billion in state taxes, and $51 billion in various fees and charges), but spent over $225 billion, a deficit twice the size of the year before.
On the books, the state has $199.9 billion in assets but $215.4 billion in liabilities; eliminating assets unpledgable against obligations results in an unrestricted net asset deficit of a staggering -$127 billion. Put succinctly, the state has booked $127 billion more in promises and liabilities than it has assets to pay for them. (Part of this is because the state borrows to build things for local governments but turns title over to them, which is running up debts.) It's been getting deeper every year.
The report did not include the full cost of state retiree health and pension costs, so the real amount is probably much higher.
In November, California raised its top income tax rate to 13.3 percent, now the highest in the country. The change was retroactive to the beginning of 2012 (as was a recent clawback of a business deduction), so a burst of revenue will likely happen in the short-term.,
In the long-term, it depends on your worldview: does a high level of state spending promote economic growth, or will high taxes drag economic growth?
See above for Bobbo/Rufie "debate"
ReplyDeleteFact is, CA is bankrupt, despite green energy.
Just like the USA, thanks to the Crony Capitalist/Socialist team in DC
ReplyDeleteWe are all Mujahideen now.
Reply
Replies
desert ratThu Jun 20, 02:36:00 PM EDT
We have been, since allowing the bin Laden family to leave he US, on 13SEP2001
“Even though American airspace had been shut down,” Sky News reported, “the Bush administration allowed a jet to fly around the US picking up family members from 10 cities, including Los Angeles, Washington DC, Boston and Houston.”
“Two dozen members of Osama bin Laden’s family were urgently evacuated from the United States in the first days following the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington,” CBS reported.
“Most of bin Laden’s relatives were attending high school and college,” the article continued. “Many were terrified, fearing they would be lynched after hearing reports of violence against Muslims and Arab-Americans.”
The skies over America in the days following 9/11 were in lock-down mode yet the entire family of America’s number one enemy is released without due question.
desert ratThu Jun 20, 02:37:00 PM EDT
Is there a better way to sabotage an in-depth investigation against the world’s premier evil mastermind than to release all of his family members before any in-depth question-and-answer session had taken place? Personally, I cannot imagine it. Think about it. What about possible phone calls to ( or from) bin Laden from family members that should have been examined? Or emails? (After all, bin Laden, despite spending most of his time in caves, is an allegedly tech-savvy guy). These take weeks to fully examine. Perhaps there was an incriminating clue somewhere, a hint, a code? There is even the possibility, despite the fact that the bin Ladens have apparently ostracized Osama, that at least one of them was sympathetic to his cause. But it would only have taken one to get mountains of valuable information. Finally, the decision seemed to be politically unattractive. Still, even that did not deter the authorities from giving the bin Ladens yet more frequent flier miles.
Moreover, the United States has proven itself to be somewhat adept at using “intense interrogation” techniques to extract information from co-conspirators. Did any official float the idea of applying a little bit of pressure, you know, in classic good cop, bad cop routines that we’ve seen a million times in Hollywood films, to one or two bin Laden family members in order to get one of the others to spill the beans? Apparently not.
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Barbara Bush and 41 said they were charming folk:
Can we expect 43 to disagree?
Give the poor guy a break.
"Moreover, the United States has proven itself to be somewhat adept at using “intense interrogation” techniques to extract information from co-conspirators. Did any official float the idea of applying a little bit of pressure, you know, in classic good cop, bad cop routines that we’ve seen a million times in Hollywood films, to one or two bin Laden family members in order to get one of the others to spill the beans?
DeleteApparently not."
How about a corncob up the ass of one of his sisters, or a more frontal orifice?
Somehow Deuce got left out for credit in the above post wrt "We are all Mujahideen now"
ReplyDeletemy bad
Anybody else find POTUS's sweat soaked shirt revealing a white wife-beater T widely erotic like me?
ReplyDelete...not that I'm a homo.
Much
POTUS Expels Poopie
There is the crapper for us folks, making the left right and down up.
ReplyDeleteWhat I said was just the opposite, of course.
I always remember what Trish said:
"There is something really wrong with you, Rat."
bob
I bemoan the lack of culture and the violence and stupidity in the inner city and the crapper makes this out to be an urge on my part to abort black children. When I said just the opposite.
ReplyDeleteDeuce you should ban this man.
Trish was right:
"There is something really wrong with you, Rat."
bob
I wish Trish was back.
ReplyDeleteI really liked her.
bob
The crapper knows nothing at all.
ReplyDeleteHe was the guy that said there was individualism in Islam.
What a howl.
What a hoot.
bob
This, Ladies and Gentlemen, is the crapper that threatened to kill WiO and I.
ReplyDeleteThis is the crapper that puts people's addresses up on the internet.
This is the crapper we all find so disgusting.
He should be banned.
bob
This is the crapper that says Israel is an European colony in the mid east.
ReplyDeleteThis is crapper thought.
He is nuts.
Ban the crapper.
bob
Ban the crapper.
ReplyDeletebob
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDelete