The Dangers Of A Biased Media

It really isn’t a secret that the media wants four more years of President Barack Obama (although I can’t understand why). Before you complain that I am biased, I would like to remind you of the name of this blog. I don’t have a problem with media being on one side or the other–I just want everyone to be honest about where they stand!

Big Journalism posted a story today that should enrage every American.

The story states (and includes a video):

Yesterday, on MSNBC, left-wing journalists Chris Hayes of The Nation and Ezra Klein of the Washington Postno strangers to Democrat-media collusion–revealed that they had been part of an off-the-record White House briefing in which it was made clear that President Barack Obama planned all along to let the temporary payroll tax holiday expire, and then blame Republicans.

The media bias impacted the negotiations–the Republicans also knew that the President was willing to let the tax cuts expire and then blame them. They also knew that because of the media bias, they would not be able to convince the American public that they were not responsible for the end of the payroll tax cut.

The article further reports:

According to Hayes, “everyone in Washington” knew that Obama wanted the payroll tax extension to fail–and yet the same journalists eagerly covered the subsequent payroll tax debate as if Republicans were the only obstacle to an extension. The result of the media’s collusion was a year-end political victory for Obama and the Democrats at the expense of House leaders, the Tea Party, and Republicans in general.

Shame on the media for not doing their job of objective reporting.

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A Total Surrender In The Name Of Peace

Andrew McCarthy posted an article in the National Review Online today based on a story published in the Hindu which states that the Obama Administration has chosen Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi to mediate negotiations between the United States and the Taliban. Even if you ignore the concept of negotiating with the Taliban, there are some serious problems with this arrangement.

These are a few of the things in Sheikh al-Qaradawi’s past that make him a less than idea moderator. In 2003, he issued a fatwa calling for the killing of American troops in Iraq. He maintains that Islam “will conquer Europe [and] will conquer America.” He urges the destruction of Israel.

The article lists some of his ideas:

Thus does Sheikh Qaradawi champion Hamas, mass-murder attacks, and suicide bombings. “They are not suicide operations,” he brays. “These are heroic martyrdom operations.” Indeed, he elaborates, “The martyr operations is [sic] the greatest of all sorts of jihad in the cause of Allah.”

…Qaradawi uses his al-Jazeera platform to preach this message to the Muslim masses. As the Middle East Media Research Institute and Robert Spencer document, in one memorable Friday “sermon” broadcast in 2009, he prayed that Allah would kill all Jews: “Oh Allah, take this oppressive, Jewish, Zionist band of people. Oh Allah, do not spare a single one of them. Oh Allah, count their numbers and kill them, down to the very last one.” He added that throughout history, Allah had imposed upon Jews “people who would punish them for their corruption. The last punishment was carried out by Adolph Hitler.”

There is a concept in Sharia Law called taqiyya. Loosely translated, this term means that it is acceptable to lie to an infidel in order to advance the cause of Islam. The concept is based on Quran 3:28 and 16:106 and other Islamic literature (my reference is SHARIAH, THE THREAT TO AMERICA, AN EXERCISE IN COMPETITIVE ANALYSIS, REPORT OF TEAM B II, published by the Center for Security Policy).

I reported yesterday (rightwinggranny.com) on the discussions to release some terrorist leaders from Guantanamo to Afghanistan as part of the peace discussions. What we are seeing here is the Obama Administration’s desperation to declare peace (and American troop withdrawal) in Afghanistan before the 2012 election. Unfortunately, because of the way they are going about it, all they are doing is setting up a government which includes the Taliban and will be little different from the one that gave us the events of 9/11.

 

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The Attack On Private Property Rights Continues

I have previously posted an article about Agenda 21 (rightwinggranny.com) showing the quest for making a majority of the land in America off limits to Americans, both in terms of access and ownership. On Thursday the Washington Examiner posted an article about a new tool that may be added to the land grabbing mechanism of the federal government.

One of the aspects of Agenda 21 is the location of vernal pools and the ‘corridors’ that connect them. Those pools and corridors are then used as excuses to severely limit the use of property. Property owners can be asked to make alterations to their property that are extremely expensive and that might cause them to abandon the property. Property owners can also be severely limited as to what they can do on their own property.

The article states:

Big Green has an unlikely new sales pitch to convince Congress to fund ever-expanding land grabs by the National Park Service — save wildlife migration. A map overlay showing all the U.S. wildlife migration paths would blot out nearly half the nation — a very clever diagram for empire-building bureaucrats.

The obscure but well-heeled Wildlife Conservation Society (2010 assets $764 million) unveiled the idea last week in “Spectacular Migrations in the Western U.S.,” a 45-page report on the purportedly urgent need for a widespread network of wildlife migration corridors to avert countless extinctions.

The WCS is a consortium of zoos (“urban wildlife parks”) and global conservation programs that uses science, according to its mission statement, to “change attitudes towards nature.” Its Spectacular Migrations report looks suspiciously like the expansion agenda of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, the NPS’s boss.

There’s a good reason: WCS staff recently conducted a migration workshop for the NPS, which produced a new framework for conserving migrations in or near national parks.

This is the framework for a new government land grab.

 

 

 

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Why I Love My Neighborhood

 I live in a small town in Massachusetts. One of my neighbors recently remarked to a group of his friends that he was not impressed by the Occupy Wall Street movement. The plotting began. His wife and a few of his friends decided to have their own tongue-in-cheek Occupy Event right on his front lawn. These are some of the pictures.

I really do love my neighborhood–it was all in fun and a good time was had by all!

Moving Quickly In The Wrong Direction

Politico posted a story yesterday about the new telephone hotline set up by the the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency (ICE) to help people who are arrested on immigration violations to get help.

An article at the International Business Times reports:

The toll free number, (855) 448-6903, will allow detained individuals to contact federal immigration authorities if they believe they may be victims or the crime, or if they are U.S. citizens or residents being unlawfully detained, according to a statement posted on the ICE Web site.

The hotline will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by ICE personnel at the Law Enforcement Support Center, which will provide translation services in several languages.

“ICE personnel will collect information from the individual and refer it to the relevant ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Field Office for immediate action,” reads the statement.

We are talking about illegal aliens–American citizens don’t have a hotline they can call. What are we doing? This is paid for by taxpayer money at a time when there isn’t any taxpayer money! This is just totally upside down.

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In The Muslim Culture Weakness Does Not Lead To Peace

The Muslim culture is a very male-oriented culture where power is respected and weakness is not. I am not sure that our State Department and the Obama Administration are taking that into consideration in some of their recent actions.

Reuters reported yesterday that the Obama Administration is considering transferring a senior Taliban official now at Guantanamo over to Afghan custody. Haven’t we learned from our mistakes? In Iraq (see rightwinggranny.com) Ali Musa Daqduq, a Hezbollah operative involved in the planning of the kidnapping and murder of American soldiers in Karbala in 2007, who is also guilty of arming and training Iraqi insurgents, was turned over to the Iraqis as the Americans withdrew (rather than taken to Guantanamo) and is expected to be released to either Beirut or Tehran.

The Reuters story reports:

One U.S. intelligence official said there had been intense bipartisan opposition in Congress to the proposed transfer.

“I can tell you that the hair on the back of my neck went up when they walked in with this a month ago, and there’s been very, very strong letters fired off to the administration,” the official said on condition of anonymity.

The senior administration official confirmed that the White House has received letters from lawmakers on the issue. “We will not characterize classified Congressional correspondence, but what is clear is the President’s order to us to continue to discuss these important matters with Congress,” the official said.

Even supporters of a controversial deal with the Taliban – a fundamentalist group that refers to Americans as infidels and which is still killing U.S., NATO and Afghan soldiers on the battlefield – say the odds of striking an accord are slim.

Critics of Obama’s peace initiative remain deeply skeptical of the Taliban’s willingness to negotiate, given that the West’s intent to pull out most troops after 2014 could give insurgents a chance to reclaim lost territory or push the weak Kabul government toward collapse.

President Obama refuses to send anyone to Guantanamo. Unfortunately that refusal is putting Americans and our national security at risk.

 

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The Future Of Iran

Yesterday Reza Kahlili posted an article at the Washington Times about what he believes are the intentions of the current Iranian regime.

First of all, the article explains who Reza Kahlili is:

Reza Kahlili is a pseudonym for a former CIA operative in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards and the author of “A Time to Betray” (Threshhold Editions, Simon & Schuster, 2010) He is a fellow with EMPact America and teaches at the U.S. Department of Defense’s Joint Counterintelligence Training Academy (JCITA).

He definitely has the insight to look past the obvious and see what is actually going on. Mr. Kahlili reports that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has told the Iranian Revolutionary Guards to prepare for war.
 
The article reports:
 

The radicals ruling Iran have long believed that obtaining the nuclear bomb will make them untouchable and will facilitate the expansion of the Islamic movement in the region and the world in bringing the West to its knees. They also have concluded that because of the troubles in the world’s economy and financial troubles in America, even a limited confrontation with America would benefit the Islamic regime.

As of yet, we do not believe Iran has nuclear weapons, but they do have a lot of conventional weapons. One option (that has been mentioned a lot lately) is to close down the Straits of Hormuz. Another option is to target U.S. bases in the Middle East with their missiles, disrupting the movement of U.S. forces and the operation of the Air Force, which the guards believe will be the main thrust of any attack by America.

The article reports:

The guards also are targeting four U.S. air bases in Afghanistan as the main launching pads for any attacks on Iran. The Bagram Air Base, home to most of the U.S. Air Force presence in Afghanistan, is just 450 miles from the Iranian borders and within range of all of Iran’s ballistic missiles. Other air bases in Afghanistan that would be attacked by the guards in case of war are in Kandahar, Shindand and Herat.

The article also points out that Iran will depend on Russia and China to come to its aid in time to stop any war that threatens the current regime. The bottom line here is very simple–we don’t need a war–we need a regime change!

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Some Common Sense On The Campaign Trail

 

Me wit elmo

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The New York Daily News reported today that Mitt Romney has stated that if he is elected President, Big Bird is going to have to do his own commercials.

The article reports:

Romney said he’s a fan of the Public Broadcasting Service, the government-funded nonprofit that carries “Sesame Street,” but that “it’s immoral for us to keep spending money we don’t have and passing on to our kids our obligations.”

He added that he would maintain endowments for the arts and humanities, “but they’re going to be paid for by private charity not by taxpayers — or by borrowers.”

“Sesame Street” currently has a constellation of public and private sponsors. Corporate sponsors of the program include Beaches Family Resorts, Earth’s Best organic foods, PNC, United Healthcare and the Good Egg Project, according to the website of Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit educational organization that produces “Sesame Street.” Taxpayer support for the program comes from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the U.S. Department of Education, among others.

This is not an endorsement of Mitt Romney. It is, however, an illustration of the difference in thinking between a businessman and a politician. I bought two of my granddaughters counting Ernie’s for Christmas. Someone made a profit on them. Someone made a huge profit on tickle-me-Elmo a few years ago. Why can’t those profits support Sesame Street and other PBS programming? Why shouldn’t the Public Broadcasting Service have to find a way to make its programming profitable?

 

 

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Sometimes You Must Fight Back

YNET News reported today that Israel fired rockets into the Gaza Strip in retaliation for Qassam rockets fired into Israel on Wednesday night.

The article reports:

Israeli aircraft bombed overnight Thursday an underground tunnel used by terrorists in north Gaza and a terror activity hub in the central part of the Hamas-ruled territory.

There was a second air strike by the Israeli Air Force targeting a Jihad terror cell preparing an attack on the Israel-Egypt border.

The article further reports:

IDF officials said Wednesday that while 2009’s Operation Cast Lead achieved the majority of its goals, the military will not hesitate to stage another Gaza campaign should the security situation in the sector deteriorate.

I wonder how patient America would be with a neighboring country that was consistently launching rockets into civilian areas of our country.

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You Can Choose Your Friends But Not Your Relatives

As we end the holiday season, there may be someone out there who agrees with the headline of this article. I suspect President Obama would agree. Dr. Milton R. Wolf, a cousin of President Obama, published an opinion piece in the Washington Times yesterday about the Obama Presidency. He was not overly kind.

Dr. Wolf states:

 Mr. Obama may care deeply for America, but he believes in only one thing: Barack Obama. And you are not Barack Obama.

That seems a little harsh, but I would say that a President on a $4 million vacation when the country is struggling financially is a more than a little tone deaf.

Dr. Wolf further states:

As recently as this month, the food-stamp president of 13 million unemployed Americans declared himself the fourth-most-accomplished president in the history of the United States, eclipsing, in his own mind, President Reagan and even our nation’s father, George Washington. That in only three years. Barack the Magnificent won’t allow trivialities like $15 trillion debts or historic national credit downgrades dissuade him.

Please follow the link to the Washington Times and read the entire commentary. Dr. Wolf notes our loss of freedom under the Obama Administration (the government is taking over health insurance, telling us what cars to buy, and limiting our choice of light bulbs).

This election needs to be an election of change–we need to get rid of the Washington political class. I am waiting to see who emerges as the Republican candidate to see if that will happen. I am willing to support anyone except Ron Paul.

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Trying To End Domestic Energy Production

Why would anyone want to end domestic energy production? I don’t know, but there are some very odd facts coming to light about America’s search for energy independence. Put aside all of the taxpayer money given to crony capitalists involved in green energy, then consider the moves by the government to curtail energy independence. It is downright odd.

The Keystone pipeline is at least temporarily on hold–even after all the permitting and requirements have been met. Now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is trying to shut down fracking–a process which gives America access to enough oil and natural gas to make us energy independent.

On December 20, the Wall Street Journal reported on the latest scheme by the EPA to shut down fracking in Pavillion, Wyoming. The EPA has issued a report saying that fracking is causing pollution to ground water.

The article reports:

But does it stand up? This is the first major study to have detected linkage between fracking and ground-water pollution, and the EPA draft hasn’t been peer reviewed by independent scientific analysts. Critics are already picking apart the study, which Wyoming Governor Matt Mead called “scientifically questionable.”

The EPA says it launched the study in response to complaints “regarding objectionable taste and odor problems in well water.” What it doesn’t say is that the U.S. Geological Survey has detected organic chemicals in the well water in Pavillion (population 175) for at least 50 years—long before fracking was employed.

There are also some other problems with the study: Please follow the above link to the article to see further details. The bottom line is simple. We need to take threats to the purity of our drinking water seriously, but we need to understand the history and the sources of these threats before we decide on a course of action.

 

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A Game Of Chicken In The Straits Of Hormuz

Townhall.com posted an Associated Press report on recent tensions in the Straits of Hormuz. Iran is conducting military exercises in the Straits supposedly practicing closing the Straits, which the Iranians have threatened to do if Western countries impose economic sanctions because of Iran’s nuclear program. America has stated that it will not tolerate any disruptions to the Straits. Excuse my skepticism, but based on how America has handled the entire nuclear program in Iran, I am not sure how seriously America’s statement will be taken.

The article reports:

The U.S. Congress has passed a bill banning dealings with the Iran Central Bank, and President Barack Obama has said he will sign it despite his misgivings. Critics warn it could impose hardships on U.S. allies and drive up oil prices.

The bill could impose penalties on foreign firms that do business with Iran’s central bank. European and Asian nations import Iranian oil and use its central bank for the transactions.

Iran is the world’s fourth-largest oil producer, with an output of about 4 million barrels of oil a day. It relies on oil exports for about 80 percent of its public revenues.

The interesting part of the above statement is that Iran relies on oil exports for about 80 percent of its public revenues. The question is simple–“Would Iran be willing to cut off 80 percent of its revenue in order to continue its nuclear program?” Are we leading up to a situation similar to what we had in Iraq’s ‘food for oil’ program, where the leaders on the country will live very well and the people will starve?

I am making no bets on who will blink first.

 

 

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Ben Nelson Is Retiring

Yesterday Investors.com posted an article about Senator Ben Nelson announcing his retirement. Senator Nelson is a casualty of his vote on ObamaCare. He is retiring because it has become very obvious that he will not be re-elected because of his vote for ObamaCare (which was touted as the deciding vote on the unpopular bill). The article at Investors.com sees his retirement as the ticket for the Republicans to take over the Senate. The article points out that if President Obama is re-elected, Republican control of the Senate would give him more opportunity to blame Congress for everything that is not going right. If President Obama is not re-elected, a Republican President and a Republican Congress might be able to restore some fiscal sanity to the government.

Power Line posted a wonderful comment on the subject:

One of the sources of Nelson’s unpopularity in Nebraska was his vote for Obamacare. So this is an opportune moment to recall the Cornhusker Kickback, one of a number of acts of outright corruption on which Obamacare was based. The Kickback provided that the federal government would pick up Nebraska’s tab–but only Nebraska’s–for the new Medicaid recipients that would be created by the statute, apparently in perpetuity. That was the bribe that Obama needed to get Nelson’s vote, and Nelson evidently thought his sweetheart deal would insulate him against criticism for voting for the unpopular bill. One wonders: how can such a special arrangement for a single state possibly be constitutional? But constitutionality was never a big concern where Obamacare was concerned.

To Nelson’s surprise, perhaps, the kickback didn’t entirely placate his Cornhusker constituents. What is wrong with those people? Don’t they know a good payoff when they see one? Maybe Thomas Frank needs to write a new book called What’s the Matter With Nebraska?

I think many Americans are concerned about the rate of spending going on in Washington. The question is, “Can that spending be dealt with?” I think it can if it is dealt with in the next two to four years. Otherwise, when we reach the point where the majority of Americans do not pay income taxes (the number now is about 49 percent), there will be no incentive to cut spending. At that point we will become a third-world country.

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Received In My E-Mail This Morning

This article was also published in the Worcester Telegram and Gazette this morning. It was also sent out by the author, Len Mead. I received it in my e-mail this morning.

The economic truth hurts

Did you think Republicans would “raise your payroll taxes” starting in January if no deal had been reached? Do you think unemployment just dropped to only 8.6 percent?

If you answered “yes” to these questions, the Main Street media has succeeded in deceiving you — and most other busy readers and viewers. Like our economy, truthful journalism has sunk to lows unseen in our lifetimes.

Fortunately, dear reader, you have me to help you correct these misconceptions. Let me guide you — through truth — to understand what’s really happening as we celebrate what blessings we have left this Christmas and Hanukkah.

Let’s start with the bogus “payroll tax reduction” issue. You’ve been told if the current reduced amount isn’t “extended,” 140 million plus workers will have taxes raised over $1,000 next year. The truth is this payroll withholding is simply not a tax. It is an amount fortunate working people have set aside for their own retirement to fund Social Security.

So, when it was “cut” last year, it just further short-changed funding for promised Social Security payments which, not surprisingly, were insufficient to cover pay-outs last year for the first time in history.

The truth is that payroll withholdings for Social Security was never a tax, and it never should have been reduced, because now 40 cents of each federal dollar paid to existing Social Security retirees has to be borrowed.

When you buy groceries, do you borrow 40 cents of each dollar for food? That’s the truthful state our current retirement system has fallen to.

Real tax cuts are federal income tax rate reductions implemented by presidents like John Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and George Bush.

These real tax rate reductions all resulted in sharply higher tax revenues collected by the government due to a growing economy, with more jobs and more people being hired to pay taxes.

One could argue that the so-called payroll tax cut reduction implemented in the past was an intentional destabilizing effort by Democrats to make citizens further dependent on government — similar to now bankrupt Europe. But hey, we’re bankrupt, too, with a national debt topping — hold your breath — $15 trillion (see usdebtclock.org). Not ready to pay this debt bill? Well, surely your children and grandchildren are, eh?

The Main Street media is criminally negligent in not reporting this serious truth to us.

Moving on to the bogus reported “reduction” in unemployment: Folks, it just ain’t so.

True unemployment is rising — horribly. The “official unemployment rate” of 8.6 percent reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics does not include desperate citizens who have given up looking for full-time work after months or years of failure. For example, if the same number of people were looking for work today as were looking for work when Barack Obama took office, the unemployment rate would be 11 percent.

But the true unemployment figure is even worse.

The more accurate Labor Department unemployment figure is not the “U-3” 8.6 percent figure but really 15.6 percent, which includes “total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force.”

Estimates of the number of unemployed by this measure exceed 25 million desperate people in the U.S. out of about 153 million working. Again, the Main Street media seems criminally unwilling to report this truth to us, or to report the possible solutions for improving our economy and thus the number of available jobs people wanting to work could seek.

Fortunately, many sources for these truths exist for curious, open-minded citizens anxious for real solutions to the problems of our economy.

Solutions include real reductions in government spending and regulations, lower and certain taxes for the future, and the repeal of Obamacare, which is a cancer on businesses who simply cannot hire anybody without knowing what future real costs will exist with each new hire.

When these steps are taken, our great free economy will again explode upward — with new jobs, new tax revenues for public needs, and real new hope for the future. Our still-free republic is still our greatest blessing now at year’s end.

Len Mead can be reached at mead1720@gmail.com

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We Are Not Hearing The Whole Story

Today Reuters posted a story about the Christmas day shooting near Dallas, Texas. The story details how Aziz Yazdanpanah, who was estranged from his wife and teenage daughters, killed his family and other relatives that were visiting his family. Yazdanpanah showed up in a Santa suit and started shooting.

Why am I posting this article? Because Reuters and the mainstream press are not telling the entire story.

The Blaze posted a few more details of the story:

In addressing the “honor killing” potential, Jihad Watch quotes Nona Yazdanpanah’s (Yazdanpanah’s daughter) friend, Lacie Reed. The young girl was quoted as saying, “She (Nona) would come to school crying and telling us her dad was crazy. He wouldn’t let her wear certain things. He was always taking her phone away, checking her call history and checking her text messages.”

Reed went on to say that Nona couldn’t date until she was “a certain age” and that she wasn‘t allowed to date anyone outside of the family’s race or religion. In addition to these details, Jihad Watch also claims that Yazdanpanah had installed cameras around the family’s home in an effort to monitor the activities that were going on.

These quotes, in themselves, are not enough to definitively call the murder-suicide an “honor killing.” That being said, the information, should it be true, does cause some questions to emerge.

So far, the Grapevine Police Department has been tight-lipped about the details surrounding the case, so any and all theories regarding motive will have to wait for definitive answering.

We never really have encountered a situation with this many victims that were shot and killed,” Sgt. Roger Eberling said. “We’re still trying to uncover the background here. This is the worst homicide we’ve ever had.”

Under Sharia Law, it is appropriate to kill family members whose behavior has brought shame to the family. That applies to women who have divorced their husbands and wives and daughters who have been westernized. When you consider the fact that the Fort Hood Massacre was declared ‘workplace violence,’ you begin to wonder how honest authorities are being about the source of these murders.

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Isn’t Energy Conservation Supposed To Be Safe ?

U.S. Patent by Thomas Edison for an improved e...

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Today’s U.K. Mail posted a story about the fire danger posed by compact fluorescent light bulbs after they have stopped working. It seems as if the electronics in the base of the light bulb will attempt to produce light even after the bulb has burned out.

The article reports:

So far there have been 34 complaints about CFLs emitting smoke or a burning odour and four reports of one actually catching fire.

Jennifer Mieth, Massachusetts’ Department of Fire Services spokesman, told masslive.com: ‘In 2008, the state fire marshal’s office office first alerted the fire chiefs that CFLs could smoke.

‘I’m not aware of any fires that fire departments in the state have responded to that were started by CFLs, but, as a consumer, it’s a good idea to be vigilant.’

In 2009, standards were revised for materials used in the plastic housing of the base of CFLs sold in North America. But millions are still in use that were produced before the change.

CFL bulbs produce a hazardous waste situation when they break, and they have a danger of smoking or catching fire after they burn out. Maybe it’s time to rethink this whole light bulb thing and bring back the incandescent bulb.

 

 

 

 

 

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Keeping It All In Perspective

The Hawaii State Capitol.Picture taken from at...

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On Saturday, the Hawaii Reporter reported that while President Obama and his family are enjoying an estimated $4,113,038 vacation in Hawaii at taxpayer expense, former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi is also visiting Hawaii. Ms. Pelosi is spending her Christmas at the exotic Four Seasons Resort Hualalai at Historic Ka’upulehu in Kona on the island of Hawaii, at a cost of $10,000 a night. There has been a bit of a ruckus on some internet sites about this, but I am here to offer a different perspective.

Ms. Pelosi is married to a very successful businessman. Admittedly, there may have been some interesting aspects of Congress throwing business his way or insider trading, but the fact remains that he is a successful businessman. In my mind, he (and his wife) have earned the right to stay in a $10,000 a night hotel room. Good for them. Her visit has cost the local taxpayers in Hawaii $34,000 for police escorts, but again, as a Congresswoman, she is entitled to security.

When President Bush left Washington on vacation, most of the time he went to his ranch in Texas or his father’s house in Maine. The expense to the taxpayer was minimal. President Obama is a very expensive President. At a time when many taxpayers can’t even afford to go out to dinner and the government is in serious deficit, it seems a little excessive for the President to spend more than $4 million dollars on a vacation.

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One Weapon Against Terror Is Paying Attention

 The Israel National News reported today on an incident near Har Bracha in central Samaria. An IDF soldier stopped an 18-year old Arab man who was climbing in the hills approaching Har Bracha. The soldier noticed that the Arab was carrying an unusually large bag. When the soldier grabbed the Arab’s bag and examined the contents, he found two large pipe bombs, a molotov cocktail and ammunition. After a further search of the area, soldiers found a second bag with similar contents.

The article reminds us:

It should be noted that the spot where the Arab was arrested is mere meters away from the former location of the Hawara checkpoint, which was removed at the orders of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Ehud Barak. Arabs who attempted to smuggle weapons were routinely caught at this crossing, into and out of the Shechem area.

 Somehow, I think they need to put the checkpoint back up.

This is yet another reminder that the quest for peace in the Middle East is not simple. As long as young Arabs are taught that it is noble to kill Israelites, it is futile to even consider negotiations

 
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Why I Am Concerned About Free Speech

The thing to remember when dealing with Muslim blasphemy laws is that under Sharia Law, the charge of blasphemy has nothing to do with truth. If what has been said about the Muslim religion or its past or present leaders is negative, it can be considered blasphemy, whether it is true or not. I believe that in America some time in the near future, we will see the same standard applied to the concept of ‘hate speech’ against Islam. The case of Elisabeth Sabaditsch-Wolff in Austria is an example of this happening in the European Union.

Front Page Magazine posted an interview with of Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff today. Please follow the link to read the entire article–it is fascinating. Because of her years of living in Muslim countries in the Middle East, both under Sharia Law and under secular governments, she understands totally how Muslims use ‘hate speech’ laws to curtail free speech.

In the article she explains where she is and how she got there:

What happened? A young woman, a journalist, had infiltrated two of my seminars in October and November, illegally recording my presentation, and then reported me to the Austrian authorities, who in turn began an official investigation. The charge: Hate speech.

The outpouring of criticism from official Austria was astounding. From the vice chancellor to the chief rabbi, from a high-ranking bishop to party leaders: My statements – all taken out of context – were condemned through and through. I was even compared to Bin Laden by one Muslim official. Not one of these so-called leaders bothered to ask for clarification from my side. I was to be vilified, my statements were to be condemned, for two reasons. First, I gave these seminars for the “right-wing, xenophobic” Freedom Party and second, the content of the seminars described Islam.

She continues:

Simply put, I have now been made a victimless convict. On December 20, 2011, my conviction for denigration of a legally recognized religion was upheld by the higher court.

What was the reason for this conviction, you may ask. Well, during the course of my seminars, I mentioned the choking EU directive “Framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia,” and in order to illustrate my point I told the audience about a conversation I had with my sister and how she believed that one should find a different word for Mohammed’s actions with Aisha. I said, “How does one name what he did if not call it pedophilia?” And this sentence got me convicted, for I am allowed by law to say that Mohammed had sex with a young girl, but I may not qualify this behavior as this is deemed “excessive” and thus denigrating. The Austrian state has created a victimless crime, and a criminal without a single victim.

The trial is now officially over. There is only one way to appeal, and that is taking the matter to the European Court for Human Rights in Strasbourg. But– this will cost a lot of money and will take a lot time (6-8 years minimum).

The law that Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff was convicted under took effect in November 2010, when all members of the European Union were required to implement the “Framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia”, or, more fully, the “Council Framework Decision 2008/913/JHA of 28 November 2008. The intent of the law was to combat racism and xenophobia. The impact of the law was to severely limit free speech.  

In the article, Ms. Sabaditsch-Wolff details here supposed ‘crime’:

What was the reason for this conviction, you may ask. Well, during the course of my seminars, I mentioned the choking EU directive “Framework decision on combating racism and xenophobia,” and in order to illustrate my point I told the audience about a conversation I had with my sister and how she believed that one should find a different word for Mohammed’s actions with Aisha. I said, “How does one name what he did if not call it pedophilia?” And this sentence got me convicted, for I am allowed by law to say that Mohammed had sex with a young girl, but I may not qualify this behavior as this is deemed “excessive” and thus denigrating.

Again, under Sharia Law, blasphemy has nothing to do with truth. Evidently, under the new speech rules in the EU, that is also true.

 

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An Interesting Turn Of Events

 

 

Big Government is reporting today on an interesting twist of events that has resulted in Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry being excluded from the Virginia Republican primary ballot. It seems that in the Presidential primaries of 2000, 2004, and 2008, 10,000 signatures were required, but those signatures were not checked.

The article reports:

The only reason the Virginia Republican Party checked the signatures for validity for the current primary is that in October 2011, an independent candidate for the legislature, Michael Osborne, sued the Virginia Republican Party because it did not check petitions for its own members, when they submitted primary petitions. Osborne had no trouble getting the needed 125 valid signatures for his own independent candidacy, but he charged that his Republican opponent’s primary petition had never been checked, and that if it had been, that opponent would not have qualified. The lawsuit, Osborne v Boyles, cl 11-520-00, was filed in Bristol County Circuit Court. It was filed too late to be heard before the election, but is still pending. The effect of the lawsuit was to persuade the Republican Party to start checking petitions. If the Republican Party had not changed that policy, Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry would be on the 2012 ballot.

As much as I would like to see both Newt Gingrich and Rick Perry in the Virginia primary, I support the idea of checking signatures (I also support voter ID laws). I think we need to make sure that our elections truly do represent the idea of ‘one man, one vote.’

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The True Christmas Spirit

Stonewood Rd. in Baltimore Maryland cropped fo...

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There are people among us who practice Christmas all year long. The Los Angeles Times posted a story about some of them today.

Earl Johnson, a former Army Ranger who served in Bosnia, Iraq and Afghanistan, Rich Blake, 32, a Marine Corps veteran; and Jeremy Johnson, 34, a Navy veteran, are part of Operation Oliver, a mission to clean up one of Baltimore Maryland’s worst neighborhoods.

The article at the Los Angeles Times reports:

Operation Oliver, which began in July, is a one-year commitment to the neighborhood, the veterans say. It involves cleaning up alleys, rehabilitating homes, organizing volunteers and notifying police about illegal dumping sites and drug dealing.

To say the idea has caught on would be an understatement. Word of the intensive yearlong service project has spread throughout Maryland — and the nation.

Tons of trash have been hauled away, homes have been rehabilitated, and the drug dealers and prostitutes are being pushed out of the neighborhood.

These men have already served their country abroad. Now they are making a considerable difference at home.

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What Was In That Bill ?

Yesterday the Daily Caller posted a summary of the payroll tax cut bill that recently caused so much hand wringing in Congress. The bill that was passed was pretty much what was suggested at the beginning of the negotiations (except for the two-month limit).

The Daily Caller reports:

—Retains through Feb. 29 the current 4.2 percent rate for Social Security payroll taxes paid by 160 million workers, instead of letting the rate rise to 6.2 percent on Jan. 1.

—Renews federal benefits averaging $300 a week for the long-term unemployed through Feb. 29.

—Prevents 27 percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors; extends other health care fees through Feb. 29.

—Requires President Barack Obama to approve construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas within 60 days unless he declares the project would not serve the national interest.

—Price tag of $33 billion. Paid for by increasing home loan guarantee fees charged to mortgage lenders by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Housing Administration by one-tenth of 1 percentage point. The fee is passed on to home buyers and will apply to many new purchases and refinancings starting Jan. 1. For a $200,000 mortgage, the fee increases a borrower’s cost by about $17 a month.

—Requires House and Senate leaders in both parties to name negotiators to work on a bill extending the payroll tax cut for a year, extend federal jobless benefits for the long-term unemployed and keep Medicare payments to doctors at their current level.

I guess I am wondering why we need a committee to extend the bill for a year. The gang of twelve didn’t work out too well, so why are we doing this again?

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The March Toward Sharia Law Continues In Egypt

The Associated Press is reporting today that Islamists have received 70 percent of the seats determined so far in the second stage of the Egyptian elections. The Muslim Brotherhood won about 86 of the 180 seats in this round–about 47 percent. The Al-Nour Party (the Salafists) won about 20 percent. The seculalrists that led the rebellion against Hosni Mubarak won less than 10 percent of the seats.

The article reports on a part of the power struggle currently going on in Egypt:

The election is the first since Mubarak’s Feb. 11 ouster and is the freest in Egypt’s modern history. The 498-seat People’s Assembly, the parliament’s lower house, will be tasked, in theory, with forming a 100-member assembly to draft a new constitution.

But its actual role remains unclear. The military council that has ruled since Mubarak’s fall says the parliament will not be representative of all of Egypt, and should not have sole power over the drafting of the constitution. Last week, the military appointed a 30-member council to oversee the process.

The military has traditionally held a lot of power in Egypt. It looks as if they are not in a hurry to give up that power. The military in the past has been more secular than the two parties that won the majority of votes so far. It will be interesting to see how this eventually works out. Frankly, my money is on the Muslim Brotherhood–they have been planning to implement Sharia Law in Egypt for a long time, and I don’t see them giving up now.

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