Monday, June 29, 2009

Wheel of Time

Well, just taking away my time with reading the whole Wheel of Time Series again. This will be the first time I've read it in 6? 7? years...

Love the series a lot!

Thursday, June 25, 2009

ALERT: HR 2454

I just received an email from the Houston Tea Party Society at 1:14am and believe we here at ATS must take a good look at this.

Here is the main body of the email:


A TEA PARTY NATIONWIDE EMAIL PROTEST
TAKE ACTION BELOW
THE HOUSE VOTE IS THIS WEEK

HR 2454: THE AMERICAN CLEAN ENERGY AND SECURITY ACT

IMPOSES MASSIVE PENALTIES AND TAXES ON THE COAL, OIL, AND NATURAL GAS INDUSTRIES

WHICH PROVIDE 86% OF OUR COUNTRY’S ENERGY NEEDS


THIS PUNITIVE LEGISLATION WILL

· DRAMATICALLY INCREASE PRODUCTION COSTS

· REDUCE COAL, OIL, AND NATURAL GASPRODUCTION AND SUPPLIES

· INCREASE ENERGY COSTS BY AN AVERAGE $3100/family/yr

· RESTRICT ENERGY USE AND REDUCE PRODUCTIVITY

· REDUCE ANNUAL GDP BY $393 BILLION (average: 2010 – 2035)

· ERODE THE US JOB MARKET

· INCREASE DEPENDANCY ON FOREIGN OIL

· EFFECTIVELY TAX ALL AMERICANS TO SUBSIDIZE

THE ECONOMICALLY UNVIABLE GREEN INDUSTRY
TELL CONGRESS TO STOP MANIPULATING THE PRIVATE SECTOR
WITH YOUR MONEY



(Sorry mods Im just too tired to type that out. Forgive the capital letters.)

Here's what the government has to say about this bill...

American Clean Energy And Security Act of 2009

To create clean energy jobs, achieve energy independence, reduce global warming pollution and transition to a clean energy economy.

current 111st session of congress

Open Congress Summary:

This is the Waxman-Markley comprehensive energy bill, known for short as "ACES," that includes a cap-and-trade global warming reduction plan designed to reduce economy-wide greenhouse gas emissions 17 percent by 2020. Other provisions include new renewable requirements for utilities, studies and incentives regarding new carbon capture and sequestration technologies, energy efficiency incentives for homes and buildings, and grants for green jobs, among other things.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee began markup of the bill on May 18th and it will likely be on the full House floor in June. It is expected to be significantly weakened during the legislative process by Republicans and conservative Democrats in both the Senate and the House.

OpenCongress.com

The Comments are worth a read alone!

Summary of Bill / Entire Text

Personally I am against any bill that is obviously a scam on the American People. This only benefits big business and hardly, I say hardly passes as a bill to protect the planet.

Wanna protect the planet Congress? Go off yourselves... world is better without you these days.

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

The '47 Million' Lie [Mister R.]

This is in conjunction of previous post.

Mister R.'s latest dispatch on health care:

One of the most disingenuous uses of statistics has come with the use of the figure "47 million" when referring to the number of people without health insurance.

By continuing to pound the number "47 million", advocates of a single-payer system are implementing Alinsky's rules in order to affect change. But their number is specious.

Let's break down the 47 million:

During her campaign for President, Hillary Clinton admitted in questioning that, of the 47 million, at least 25 percent could afford health insurance but choose not to purchase it (those with a household income of more than $75,000 a year). I believe the number to be slightly higher, closer to 30 percent, but let's use Clinton's number. That's 12 million.

Let's count illegal aliens. Believe it or not, illlegals are counted in this number, however, statistical models vary and have ranged from 5 to 12 million. Let's take the middle. 8 million.

Then there are those who are already eligible for government programs but not participating. That number is estimated at 12 to 16 million. Let's take 12 million.

Another group of people are those who self-fund. These are people with the financial resources to handle high medical claims. That number is estimated at 1 to 2 million. We'll take one for arguments sake.

Then there are those who are between jobs. When people are fired or leave a job, they can opt for COBRA (an extension of their health benefits under the Consolidated Omnibus Reconciliation Act, I believe 1996). When electing COBRA coverage, the premium is covered by the member. When someone is between jobs, or have obtained a job and have to wait 90 days for coverage, the government counts you as not having health insurance. That number is estimated at 5 million.

These are not exact figures, and may vary, but they are pretty widely accepted.

Add the numbers up and you get 38 million. That leaves 9 million without coverage (although they really do have coverage since the federal government, along with the states, administer medicaid and charity care).

So the real number of uninsured is 8-10 million. There are 300 million Americans.

So we want to break the system because 1 out of 30 people cannot afford coverage. That's absurd.

One last point: When politicians control your health care, they will politicize it, and use it to get elected. More on that later.

However, Obama has shown all Americans that he has already politicized the process. When he called all the health care providers and carriers together to promise savings in the system, he exempted lawyers. They were never called to the table. Tort reform is directly tied to the reduction of costs in the system (consider, for example, how Texas instituted Tort Reform).

Obama railed against "special interests" in his campaign, but has shown he will protect entire special interest classes. Like the UAW and ACORN. In this case, trial lawyers also happen to be among the largest donors to Democrats.

More to come.

Welcome to Tyranny

Read this and ask yourself: Is this free press?

ABC TURNS PROGRAMMING OVER TO OBAMA; NEWS TO BE ANCHORED FROM INSIDE WHITE HOUSE
Tue Jun 16 2009 08:45:10 ET

On the night of June 24, the media and government become one, when ABC turns its programming over to President Obama and White House officials to push government run health care -- a move that has ignited an ethical firestorm!

Highlights on the agenda:

ABCNEWS anchor Charlie Gibson will deliver WORLD NEWS from the Blue Room of the White House.

The network plans a primetime special -- 'Prescription for America' -- originating from the East Room, exclude opposing voices on the debate.

MORE

Late Monday night, Republican National Committee Chief of Staff Ken McKay fired off a complaint to the head of ABCNEWS:

Dear Mr. Westin:

As the national debate on health care reform intensifies, I am deeply concerned and disappointed with ABC's astonishing decision to exclude opposing voices on this critical issue on June 24, 2009. Next Wednesday, ABC News will air a primetime health care reform “town hall” at the White House with President Barack Obama. In addition, according to an ABC News report, GOOD MORNING AMERICA, WORLD NEWS, NIGHTLINE and ABC’s web news “will all feature special programming on the president’s health care agenda.” This does not include the promotion, over the next 9 days, the president’s health care agenda will receive on ABC News programming.

Today, the Republican National Committee requested an opportunity to add our Party's views to those of the President's to ensure that all sides of the health care reform debate are presented. Our request was rejected. I believe that the President should have the ability to speak directly to the America people. However, I find it outrageous that ABC would prohibit our Party's opposing thoughts and ideas from this national debate, which affects millions of ABC viewers.

In the absence of opposition, I am concerned this event will become a glorified infomercial to promote the Democrat agenda. If that is the case, this primetime infomercial should be paid for out of the DNC coffers. President Obama does not hold a monopoly on health care reform ideas or on free airtime. The President has stated time and time again that he wants a bipartisan debate. Therefore, the Republican Party should be included in this primetime event, or the DNC should pay for your airtime.

Respectfully,
Ken McKay
Republican National Committee
Chief of Staff

MyBrute and C.A.T.S.

Okay, everyone go here: Click ME DAMNIT
Have fun!

Remember to go here afterwords!

Sunday, June 14, 2009

Random Walk Down Madison Avenue's Golden Mile


those aren't empty stores; that is a new national chain called "Store For Rent". We have a couple of their franchises out here in the Midwest, and it is the hottest thing. Their direct competitors are called "Going Out of Business" and "Store For Lease"; I am sure you have some of those franchises in your parts too.



































Lets have a huge party because we are all going to die!

Straight of the ATSnews presses is:

Lets have a huge party because we are all going to die!


As I read through the news these days I have come to the conclusion that we are all going to die sometime in the next 50-100 years. SO LETS HAVE A PARTY!

We are either going to be broke, enslaved by the PTB, taken over by aliens, die from the flouride in our water, keel over from the swine flu, or the devil is coming in a few weeks. Therefore, I figure we might as well go out with a bang. We could get all the biggest bands together, and invite our friends from Columbia and Mexico so they can bring the party favors. We can even use it as a charity event to raise money. Money which we will promptly put into a giant pile and burn because in a few months it wont be worth anything anyway.

So lets not get depressed. Lets turn the world on its head and throw the biggest bash known to man. We can even invite the Naked Wizard just to add to the fun. This would be the best form of protest we can choose, because even if it fails at least we had a little fun and relieved some stress.

Saturday, June 13, 2009

A deep thought

Got this from the ATS forums during a discussion on how despicable some people are. Well most people are.


It is hard to fathom that a single species can evolve their technology and social structure enough to launch themselves into space and that same species is elsewhere still throwing flint tipped spears at small animals.

Zero Hedge Exclusive: Is State Street Trading For Federal Accounts?

I do so hope with all my heart this is true and they get the evidence. Then we can finally get rid of the lying sack of crap that is the Federal Reserve.


Zero Hedge has always been fascinated by the behemoths of securities lending (or not so much lately) State Street and Bank Of New York: these firms, which allegedly had just marginal toxic exposure, were in the front lines for the TARP bailout and have traditionally been handled with velvet gloves by the administration. In fact, many would say the custodian firms are in a league of importance much higher than even Goldman or JP Morgan as with their repo activity, security lending and cash collateral reinvestment, they are the de facto center of the shadow banking system.

A Cliff notes version of the stock lenders' Modus Operandi, sent in compliments of a reader:
  • In the securities lending arb, stocks and bonds are lent out by custodians and investment managers. The loan is collateralized by the borrower with cash, the lender promises the borrower a return on that cash and then invests the cash in repo and short-term debt at a spread to that promised rate of return. The sec lending market is in the trillions. This market is basically rolling overnight repo right now as it tries to dig itself out of the MTM/liquidity hole.
  • Many of the Fed/Treasury balance sheet efforts have been basically attempts to supplant securities lenders. Sec lending funds were the biggest buyers of 1-3yr FRNs (hence, TLGP). Lenders were also the biggest buyers of AAA cards and autos (read TALF 1.0). They were the second-biggest buyers of ABCP after 2a7 funds (ergo AMLF). Indirectly they were the largest funder of LT2 bank debt (via SIVs MTNs). They're large repo counerparties, and did everything from short-dated CDS to liquidity put options on Canadian levered super-senior CDOs.
  • Many stock lending funds, which have similar accrual accounting regimes to '40 Act money-market funds, have broken the buck but are still trading at $1. for example see the section beginning "We may be exposed to customer claims" on p.11. What does this mean? Not only are certain securities lending providers opening themselves up to significant litigation risk but, importantly, clients in stocks can't reallocate to bonds (or vice-versa), since the sec lending funds aren't letting them out (except in-kind). Finally, of course, as long as sec lenders remain hurt but unsupplanted, they stay short duration, which extracts hundreds of billions of $$ in term financing capacity out of the market. Fed won't act as a lender of last resort since they're still smarting from the AIG sec lending bail-out they didn't see coming.
It is no surprise that in order to incite a return to pre-Lehman economic levels (the administration's #1 goal bar none), not only the stock market would have to much higher from its March lows (a task largely accomplished through market increases on disappearing breadth, liquidity extraction by the likes of Goldman Sachs, and assorted last minute inexplicalbe ramp ups in the various futures and ETF markets), but also the shadow system would have to be back with a vengeance. And while new mechanisms to achieve this such as securitization replacement alphabet soups have yet to prove their efficacy, the real heart of the shadow banking system Frankenstein is and has always been the repo market.

Which is why we were greatly troubled when we learned recently on good authority that Federal representatives may have opened multiple undisclosed-type accounts with none other than State Street Global Advisors over the past few months. All of these accounts are allegedly handled by one single trader, who is cocooned and isolated from interaction with other partners.

Zero Hedge can, as of yet, not vouch for this being 100% factual and is asking readers who may have additional knowledge of the situtation to please come forward and share their views (tips@zerohedge.com). If, indeed, the Federal Reserve or other derivatives of the administration, are now directly involved in trading, managing repo terms, stock lending, collateral distribution and other liquidity-crucial aspects of what was once an efficient market, then indeed this rally could be written off not merely as the biggest short covering rally of all time, but one that has been explicitly orchestrated by those who should be most impartial to an efficiently working market.

Thursday, June 11, 2009

North Korea to Match U.N. Resolution With New Nuclear Test

Great if what Fox News says its true we're in a for a boat load of shit.



U.S. intelligence officials have warned President Obama and other senior American officials that North Korea intends to respond to the passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution this week -- condemning the communist country for its recent nuclear and ballistic missile tests -- with another nuclear test, FOX News has learned.

What's more, Pyongyang's next nuclear detonation is but one of four planned actions the Central Intelligence Agency has learned, through sources inside North Korea, that the regime of Kim Jong-Il intends to take -- but not announce -- once the Security Council resolution is officially passed, likely on Friday.

The other three actions include the reprocessing of all of the North's spent plutonium fuel rods into weapons-grade plutonium; a major escalation in the North's uranium-enrichment program; and the launching of another Taepodong-2 intercontinental ballistic missile from the Yunsong military complex on the west coast of North Korea. The North last launched a Taepodong-2 on April 5; it conducted its second nuclear test in the last three years on Memorial Day.

The intelligence community only learned of North Korea's plans this week, prompting CIA to alert senior officials. Asked who would be briefed on this kind of data, a source told FOX News: "The top people: POTUS, DNI." "POTUS" is acronym for the president of the United States; "DNI" refers to the director of the Office of National Intelligence.

FOX News is withholding some details about the sources and methods by which American intelligence agencies learned of the North's plans so as to avoid compromising sensitive overseas operations in a country -- North Korea -- U.S. spymasters regard as one of the world's most difficult to penetrate.

A White House official, contacted by FOX News, declined to comment, saying only that the U.S. government never speaks publicly about intelligence matters.

As top Obama administration officials weigh this prized data and what actions they might take to counter North Korea's plans for a third nuclear test, American intelligence analysts have also encountered setback in their efforts to track developments in the reclusive Stalinist country.

Where U.S. officials had observed the arrival of the first-stage transporter for a Taepodong-2 at Yunsong by June 2, leading to predictions of an imminent launch by officials as high-ranking as Defense Secretary Robert Gates, sources now tell FOX News they see no significant activity consistent with an imminent launch.

"The TD-2 activity has been rather dormant," one source said.

As well, where American intelligence officials on June 9 observed components for the long-range Musudan missile leaving the Wapo-ri installation area, they have now "lost track of them," FOX News has learned.

"We spotted the TELs [Transporter-Erector-Launchers] and then we lost track of them," a source said. "NGA lost track."

NGA refers to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, a unit the Defense Department that provides imagery and geospatial information for military and civilian purposes.

"It's disturbing," the source added.

As well, despite multiple tests, U.S. scientists have only reached inconclusive results in their efforts to use air samplings collected over the Korean Peninsula in the days after the Memorial Day detonation to confirm with 100 percent certainty that North Korea conducted a nuclear test, as is still widely believed.

California nears financial "meltdown" as revenues tumble

This is just another step in the collapse of the United States. First the state governments go then the federal government. Trust me on this one guys, the fed is not going to help California. If they were going to they would have already.

BE PREPARED for Social unrest coming this fall.


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's government risks a financial "meltdown" within 50 days in light of its weakening May revenues unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly plug a $24.3 billion budget gap, the state's controller said on Wednesday.

Underscoring the severity of California's cash crisis, Controller John Chiang, who has previously warned the state's government risks running out of cash without a budget deal, said revenues in May fell by $1.14 billon, or 17.7 percent, from a year earlier.

Additionally, the revenues of the government of the most populous U.S. state fell short of estimates in Schwarzenegger's budget plan by $827 million, Chiang said.

He warned California's state government is speeding toward a financial disaster unless officials act urgently to balance its books.

"Without immediate solutions from the governor and legislature, we are less than 50 days away from a meltdown of state government," Chiang said in a statement.

California's revenues have been on a dramatic slide as a result of recession, rising unemployment and its lengthy housing downturn.

The state's revenues from personal income taxes tumbled by 39.3 percent in May from a year earlier while revenues from corporate taxes fell by 52.1 percent and revenues from sales taxes sagged by 7.6 percent, according to a report released by Chiang's office.

"A truly balanced budget is the only responsible way out of the worst cash crisis since the Great Depression," Chiang, a Democrat, said.

DUELING BUDGET CONCEPTS

Schwarzenegger, a Republican, has proposed filling the state's budget gap with deep spending cuts, borrowing from local governments and by scrapping some state programs, including its welfare program.

Democrats who control the legislature are crafting a rival budget plan that includes spending cuts and saves programs Schwarzenegger has proposed eliminating. They instead would use reserves estimated in his budget to narrow the budget gap.

State Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg said on Tuesday he wants a budget agreement by the end of this month.

California's new fiscal year begins on July 1. The sooner the state has a budget the better poised it will be to raise short-term cash to fund its operations by selling revenue anticipation notes, or RANs, on the municipal debt market.

If pressed, California could sell revenue anticipation warrants, or RAWs, an idea floated by Schwarzenegger when he unveiled his budget plan last month. But he quickly shelved it amid opposition from lawmakers.

"No one wants to issue RAWs for our cash-flow borrowing," said Tom Dresslar, a spokesman for State Treasurer Bill Lockyer. "Everyone would prefer to issue RANs for the obvious reason: It costs less."

Lockyer, a Democrat, supports a budget with the reserve Schwarzenegger has proposed. That would increase confidence among investors that California has cash to pay the $7 billion to $9 billion in short-term debt notes that Lockyer's office assumes the state will need to sell, Dresslar said.
Photo

BORN IN THE USA? Obama: Where have all his records gone?

You know at first I was skeptical of the whole Obama birth certificate thing... but the more i read into it the more I find there are actually questions that need to be answered about this man and where he came from...

While nearly 400,000 concerned citizens demand President Obama present his elusive "long-form" birth certificate, more than a dozen other documents remain unreleased or otherwise blocked from the public eye.

Numerous documents which have yet to be surrendered include the following.

Obama kindergarten records

The Maui News reported that Obama attended kindergarten at Noelani Elementary School on Oahu during the school year 1966-67. It released a photo of two teachers, Katherine Nakamoto and Aimee Yatsushiro, with five students. The teachers claim one of the children is Barack Obama.

According to the Hawaii Department of Education, students must submit a birth certificate to register. Parents may bring a passport or student visa if the child is from a foreign country.

So far, no records have been released by the school. Noelani Elementary School officials have not responded to WND's request for comment.

Punahou School records


Punahou's alleged 1979 yearbook photo of Obama playing basketball

Though from a modest background, Obama began attending the prestigious Punahou School in Honolulu, one of Hawaii's top private institutions. He reportedly received a scholarship and attended the school from the fifth grade until he finished high school, though no financial records have been released.

The Boston Globe reported, "In 1979, the year Obama graduated, tuition for high school students at Punahou was $1,990, a sizable expense compared with Hawaii's median family income of $22,750 that year.

Obama, reportedly a "B" student, studied among the island's richest and most accomplished students. According to the school's website, he also played forward on Punahou's 1979 state championship basketball team.

Occidental College records

Obama arrived at Occidental College, a small liberal arts school in Los Angeles, Calif., in the fall of 1979. He only briefly mentions the school in his 1995 memoir, "Dreams from My Father."

Obama attended the school on a scholarship. Some question whether the financial aid he received was reserved for foreign students. Financial records have not been released.

In a legal action, handled largely by Gary Kreep of the U.S. Justice Foundation, officials at Occidental College were served with a demand to produce records concerning Barack Obama's attendance there during the 1980s because they could document whether he was attending as a foreign national.

Kreep petitioned the college with a demand for its records concerning Obama.


Occidental College library

"The gravamen of the petition is the question as to whether United States Senator Barack Hussein Obama, of Illinois, is eligible to serve as president of the United States pursuant to the requirements for that office in the United States Constitution," he wrote. "The records sought may provide documentary evidence, and/or admissions by said defendant, as to said eligibility or lack thereof."

College officials then contacted Obama's lawyers, who argued to the court that the election was over and that future concerns should be addressed to Congress.

The motion stated that the records, which could reveal on what name Obama attended classes at Occidental and whether he attended on scholarship money intended for foreign students, "are of no relevance to this moot litigation."

The motion also claimed the petitioners failed to serve the subpoena properly.

"The subpoena directed to Occidental College should therefore be quashed. Alternatively, this court should issue an order directing that the deposition of the custodian of records of Occidental College not take place," the firm working on Obama's behalf stated.

"The central issue in this lawsuit … is whether any Respondent had a legal duty to demand proof of natural born citizenship from Democratic Party's nominee," the motion said. "None of the documents sought by petitioners could possibly assist in answering this question."

A judge granted a motion to quash the subpoena.

"Obama's attorneys bent over backward to block us," Kreep told WND. "Obama doesn't want anyone to see those records. He's trying to hide them."


His efforts resulted in a threat from Obama's attorneys to seek financial sanctions against the plaintiff's lawyers.

Kreep said a notice of appeal will be filed next week.

A notice posted on the Occidental College website states, "Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) regulations protect the privacy of student education records. We, therefore, cannot disclose students' classes, grade point averages, majors or other such information."

Columbia University records

Obama transferred from Occidental College to Columbia University in 1981, at the age of 20.

According to the New York Times, Obama "suggests in his book that his years in New York were a pivotal period: He ran three miles a day, buckled down to work and 'stopped getting high,' which he says he had started doing in high school. Yet he declined repeated requests to talk about his New York years, release his Columbia transcript or identify even a single fellow student, co-worker, roommate or friend from those years."

Campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told the newspaper in October 2007, "He doesn’t remember the names of a lot of people in his life."

In a 2005 profile in a Columbia alumni magazine, Obama called his time at the school "an intense period of study."

"I spent a lot of time in the library. I didn't socialize that much. I was like a monk," he said.


Columbia University hosts outdoor viewing of 2009 Inauguration on large screen

Obama claimed to be a part of the Black Student Organization and anti-apartheid activities. But according to the New York Times, several well-known student leaders did not recall his involvement.

Fox News made contact with 400 of Obama's classmates. No one remembered him.

The Columbia University chapter in Obama's life remains blank, according to the New York Sun.

"The Obama campaign has refused to release his college transcript, despite an academic career that led him to Harvard Law School and, later, to a lecturing position at the University of Chicago," the Sun reported in September 2008. "The shroud surrounding his experience at Columbia contrasts with that of other major party nominees since 2000, all whom have eventually released information about their college performance or seen it leaked to the public."

When the newspaper inquired, the Obama campaign did not offer an explanation for why the transcript had not been released.

According to the New York Sun, a program from Columbia's 1983 commencement ceremony lists Obama as a graduate. University spokesman Brian Connolly confirmed that Obama graduated with a major in political science but without honors. Nonetheless, he was later admitted to Harvard Law School.

Columbia thesis "Soviet Nuclear Disarmament"

Before applying to Harvard, Obama is said to have written a major thesis in his senior year. It has not been released.


Soviet nuclear missile

An Oct 30, 2007, a New York Times article stated, "[Obama] barely mentions Columbia, training ground for the elite, where he transferred in his junior year, majoring in political science and international relations and writing his thesis on Soviet nuclear disarmament."

Former Columbia professor, Michael Baron, told NBC News Obama excelled in his year-long honors seminar called American Foreign Policy.

He also said Obama spent a whole year writing a "thesis" or "senior thesis" on the topic of nuclear negotiations with the former Soviet Union.

"My recollection is that the paper was an analysis of the evolution of the arms reduction negotiations between the Soviet Union and the United States," Baron told reporters in an e-mail. "At that time, a hot topic in foreign policy circles was finding a way in which each country could safely reduce the large arsenal of nuclear weapons pointed at the other … For U.S. policy makers in both political parties, the aim was not disarmament, but achieving deep reductions in the Soviet nuclear arsenal and keeping a substantial and permanent American advantage. As I remember it, the paper was about those negotiations, their tactics and chances for success. Barack got an A."

Baron said he saved Obama's paper and recently searched through boxes hoping to find it, but he told reporters he may have thrown it away during a move several years ago.

Baron wrote a letter of recommendation when Obama applied to Harvard Law School. According to Federal Election Commission records, he also donated at least $1,250 to Obama's presidential campaign.

On July 24, 2008, the Obama administration told NBC News Obama was unable to release copies of his thesis paper.

"We do not have a copy of the course paper you requested and neither does Columbia University," Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said.

According to MSNBC, Columbia University officials claim they do not have a copy available in the college's archives.

Harvard Law School records


Obama at Harvard (photo: Obama campaign)

With less than steller marks upon his graduation from Columbia, Obama was accepted into Harvard Law School.

WND columnist Jack Cashill wrote, "If Obama's LSAT scores merited admission (to Harvard), we would know about them. We don't. The Obama camp guards those scores, like his SAT scores, more tightly that Iran does its nuclear secrets."

He continued, "We know enough about Obama's Columbia grades to know how far they fall below the Harvard norm, likely even below the affirmative action-adjusted black norm at Harvard."

Cashill wrote, Khalid al-Mansour, principle adviser to Saudi Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, lobbied friends like Manhattan Borough President Percy Sutton to intervene at Harvard on Obama's behalf. Al-Mansour reportedly mentored founders of the Black Panther party in the early 1960s.

Cashill suggests Obama's "shyness" about his Harvard experience may stem from his reluctance to broadcast his connections.

According to Politico, Obama's name does not appear on any legal scholarships during his time at Harvard. His campaign reportedly said his Harvard education was a product of hard work and student loans. Obama graduated magna cum laude in 1991.

Harvard Law Review articles

In 1990, Obama beat out 18 other contenders to become the first black president of the Harvard Law Review, where he spent at least 50 hours a week editing submissions from judges, scholars and authors.

According to Politico, there were "eight dense volumes produced during his time in charge there – 2,083 pages in all."

Campaign spokesman Ben LaBolt told Politico Obama didn't write any articles for the Review, but he did leave behind numerous case analyses and unsigned "notes" from Harvard students.

As Matthew Franck noted in National Review Online, "A search of the HeinOnline database of law journals turns up exactly nothing credited to Obama in any law review anywhere at any time."

Susan Estrich, the first female president of the Review who served 14 years earlier, said Obama must have had something published that year, even if his campaign denied it.

"They probably don't want [to] have you [reporters] going back" to examine the Review, she said.


Staff of the 1990-1991 Law Review with Obama at center (photo: Obama campaign)

However, Politico later reported it had unearthed a 1990 article that "offers a glimpse at Obama's views on abortion policy and the law during his student days."

His six-page summary answers a legal question about whether fetuses should be allowed to file lawsuits against their mothers.

"Obama's answer, like most courts': No," Politico reported. "He wrote approvingly of an Illinois Supreme Court ruling that the unborn cannot sue their mothers for negligence, and he suggested that allowing fetuses to sue would violate the mother's rights and could, perversely, cause her to take more risks with her pregnancy."

The report continued, "His article acknowledged a public interest in the health of the fetus, but also seemed to demonstrate his continuing commitment to abortion rights, and suggested that the government may have more important concerns than 'ensuring that any particular fetus is born.'"

Despite its earlier statement, the Obama campaign later confirmed Obama's authorship of the article and claimed it was the only piece he had written for the Review.

University of Chicago scholarly articles


(photo: Obama campaign)

Obama lectured at the University of Chicago Law School, a top school where the faculty is known for voluminous scholarly publishing, from 1992 until 2004.

The university offered Obama a full-time tenure-track position, an honor typically reserved for published instructors. However, reporters have been unable to find scholarly articles authored by him. The university reports that Obama declined the tenure offer.

Sarah Galer, news editor at the Law School and Harris School of Public Policy at the University of Chicago, told WND, "President Obama wrote 'Dreams from My Father' while at the law school but did not produce any scholarly articles as far as I know."

Passport

According to March 2008 reports, State Department employees conducted an unauthorized search of Obama's passport files during the recent presidential campaign. CNN reported that three different contract workers accessed his information on separate occasions – Jan. 9, Feb. 21 and March 14 – without authorization. Two workers were fired and another faced discipline.

Obama's files reportedly contained copies of passport applications, birth date, basic biographical information, records of passport renewal and possibly citizenship information.

The Obama campaign demanded a thorough investigation to determine which employees looked at the file and why.

"This is an outrageous breach of security and privacy, even from an administration that has shown little regard for either over the last eight years," Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton told CNN in a statement. "Our government's duty is to protect the private information of the American people, not use it for political purposes."

Meanwhile, a key witness who had been cooperating with federal investigators was later found fatally shot in front of a Washington, D.C., church. A police officer found the body of Lt. Quarles Harris Jr., 24, slumped dead inside his car.

At the time, investigators said they didn't have any information connecting the murder to the passport case. After one year of investigation of the homicide, there have been no arrests.

The passport has not been released.

Medical records

During his first presidential campaign in 1999, Sen. John McCain released 1,500 pages of medical and psychiatric records collected by the Navy. In 2008, McCain allowed reporters to spend three hours sifting through 1,200 pages of health records.


In 1999, former Vice President Al Gore released medical records revealing "mildly elevated" cholesterol levels and removal of a common form of skin cancer from his forehead in 1997. The documents disclosed his weight, resting heart rate

, resting blood pressure, cardiovascular fitness and a variety of other health details. Gore's records were compiled after a complete physical examination by several military physicians.

Likewise, President George W. Bush allowed the media to view about 400 pages of personal medical information in 2000 and 2004.

After initial reluctance, Sen. John Kerry allowed the Navy to release his full medical records in 2004.

While not all have done so, it has been common practice for presidential candidates to release medical records.

However, Barack Obama, a relatively young candidate who was said to have been in "excellent health," refused to release medical records. Instead, he simply provided a six-paragraph note from his physician briefly summarizing 21 years of doctor visits and health information.

The letter contained no supporting documentation.

Other documents


Couple said to be Barack Obama Sr. and Ann Dunham (photo: Obama campaign)

According to additional records listed at the Obama File Report, other documents that remain unreleased include:

  • Complete files and schedules of his years as an Illinois state senator from 1997 to 2004
  • Obama's client list from during his time in private practice with the Chicago law firm of Davis, Miner, Barnhill and Gallard
  • Illinois State Bar Association records
  • Baptism records
  • Obama/Dunham marriage license
  • Obama/Dunham divorce documents
  • Soetoro/Dunham marriage license
  • Adoption records

Birth certificate

WND has been reporting since before the election on questions – and lawsuits – raised over Obama's birth and eligibility. He reported in his book he was born in Hawaii and his half-sister agrees. But the woman the president says is his paternal grandmother, Sarah Obama, claimed to have been present at her grandson's birth in Mombasa, Kenya.

The Constitution, Article 2, Section 1, states, "No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States, at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President."

Where's the proof Barack Obama was born in the U.S. or that he fulfills the "natural-born American" clause in the Constitution? If you still want to see it, join more than 380,000 others and sign up now!


Barack Obama

Complicating the issue are Obama's move to Indonesia as a child, where he reportedly attended that nation's public schools, and his later travels to Pakistan, raising questions about on what nation's passport was that travel accomplished. Then there are the multiple law firms hired to make certain Obama's long-form birth certificate information, and other documentation such as college records, remain sealed from public view.

Obama's presidential campaign released to select news organizations only what is known as a "certification of live birth," a document obtainable in Hawaii in 1961 by Americans actually born outside the country. However, Joseph Farah, WND editor and chief executive officer, has been calling for the release of Obama's long-form birth certificate showing the hospital of his birth, attending physician and other details to confirm his citizenship status.

Farah launched a national billboard campaign last month in an effort to keep the issue before the American people. The billboards, being leased around the country, ask the simple question, "Where's the birth certificate?" Farah is asking the public to support his campaign with donations. So far, more than $75,000 has been collected.

The billboard campaign followed one launched months earlier to collect the names on an electronic petition demanding accountability and transparency on the issue. So far, that petition has gathered nearly 400,000 names.

The campaign got a boost recently when WND White House correspondent Les Kinsolving asked Obama's press secretary, Robert Gibbs, why the president wouldn't release his birth certificate. Gibbs' response was covered live on C-SPAN and by Fox News Channel and others – excluding CBS.

It was the first time any member of the press corps has publicly asked a member of the administration a question directly related to Obama's constitutional eligibility for office as a "natural born citizen."

Congressional hearings were held to determine whether Sen. John McCain was constitutionally eligible to be president as a "natural born citizen," but no controlling legal authority ever sought to verify Obama's claim to a Hawaiian birth.

Both the petition and the billboard campaign are part of what Farah calls an independent "truth and transparency campaign."

The first sign to be posted under the campaign, a digital, electronic one, is up and online on Highway 165 in Ball, La.. In addition, based on the heavy volume of financial donations in the first days of the campaign, WND was able to commit to leasing three more standard billboards – one in Los Angeles, another in Orange County, Calif. and a third in Pennsylvania.


Birth certificate question being raised in Ball, La

Farah said the campaign was born of frustration with timid elected officials in Washington, corrupt judges around the country and a news media that show a stunning lack of curiosity about the most basic facts of Obama's background – especially how it relates to constitutional eligibility for the highest office in the land.

"As Obama transforms this country from self-governing constitutional republic to one governed by a central ruling elite, the simple fact remains that no controlling legal authority has established that he is indeed a 'natural born citizen' as the Constitution requires," Farah said. "Obama's promises of transparency have become a bad joke as he continues to hide simple, innocuous documents like his birth certificate and his student records."

Swine Flu To Be Declared Global Pandemic


The World Health Organisation is expected to officially declare a swine flu pandemic after an emergency meeting in Geneva this morning.

It would be the first global pandemic for 41 years.

The virus first emerged in Mexico in April and has now spread to 74 countries with a reported 27,000 cases and 141 deaths.

The world is currently in phase five of the pandemic alert scale, and moving to six would trigger a large scale production of vaccines.

It would also raise questions about why the step was delayed for weeks as the virus continued to spread.

WHO chief Dr Margaret Chan quizzed eight countries with large swine flu outbreaks on Wednesday to see if a pandemic, or global epidemic, should be declared.

She later announced that an emergency meeting of the WHO's flu experts will be held today.

Dr Chan says she believes a pandemic is already under way but is seeking clear proof that swine flu is spreading rapidly from person to person outside the Americas.

"Once I get indisputable evidence I will make the announcement," she told reporters.

According to the WHO's own pandemic criteria, a global outbreak means a new flu virus is spreading in at least two world regions.

With thousands of cases in North America and hundreds in Japan, Australia and Europe, many experts say that threshold has already been reached.

Sky's health correspondent Thomas Moore said any move to declare a pandemic did not mean the virus itself was growing in potency.

He explained:"This is a marker if you like of geographical spread. It's not an indication that the virus is becoming more severe."

GlaxoSmithKline is already working with a key ingredient of the swine flu vaccine to see how quickly doses can be produced.

And other major pharmaceuticals like Sanofi Pasteur have also been working on a vaccine after WHO gave them a "seed stock" of the virus last month.

However, drug giants say it could take up to six months before large amounts of a swine flu vaccine are available.

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

The Fed: Bankrupt

If you didnt know this already youre an idiot.

"If the Fed examiners were set upon the Fed's own documents—unlabeled documents—to pass judgment on the Fed's capacity to survive the difficulties it faces in credit, it would shut this institution down," he said. "The Fed is undercapitalized in a way that Citicorp is undercapitalized."

The Federal Reserve's balance sheet is so out of whack that the central bank would be shut down if subjected to a conventional audit, Jim Grant, editor of Grant's Interest Rate Observer, told CNBC.





Tuesday, June 2, 2009

We Declare Ourselves Independent.

This is a post written by a friend of mine on abovetopsecret.com, the post speaks for itself.

When in the course of Human events it becomes necessary to dissolve the
realities prescribed for the masses, and to establish Truth where the tenets of
Honesty are missing, it becomes our duty to advance the movements of Truth
and Liberty, to respect and enforce the Natural Rights of Man that the God of
Nature hath bestowed upon us.

Human history has shown that a people vulnerable to despotism suffer the most when the veil of secrecy is cast upon them, for it is this veil that hides the crimes and transgressions of the leadership to be carried out in the name of the people these guards are supposed to represent.

The Declaration of Independence of the Original 13 colonies dictates that the most heinous of grievances be enumerated. We must declare our independence as we have been left to it without recourse or representation for some years.
Let it be known the crimes of the Federal Government:


1. The suspension of the Writ Habeas Corpus: Thus allowing that citizen and non-citizen alike be imprisoned indefinitely without charge or trial, without the benefit of counsel, without benefit of examining evidence, and be subject to punishments cruel and unusual.

2. Entangling the nation in foreign conflicts, and engaging in military action without declaration of war: By committing the Armed Forces of the United States, and the National Guard of the Several States to war without legal recourse, without evidence of clear and imminent threat, without clear strategy, and without the means of finance.

3. The Creation of the Department of Homeland Security and the Expansion of Power of the National Security Agency: The creation of institutions of espionage for the purpose of spying on the American people without Due Process of the Law.

4. The Federal Reserve System: The creation of a central banking institution that has resulted in these United States being cast into the abyss of unsustainable and unpayable debt.

5. Members of congress and other Federal Officials have called for, and taken steps to form programs of involuntary servitude.

6. The Federal Government has used the Interstate commerce clause of the US Constitution to restrict the regular flow of goods and services through regulation intended to single out smaller competition. Under this very modus operandi the Federal Government has also ceded National sovereignty to multinational-corporate interests including the international banking and energy industries.

7. The members of the Federal Regime have engaged in the pilfering of public funds for corporate welfare programs opposed by the majority of the People.

8. Members of the Federal Regime have manipulated the vote of the people in regional and national elections to influence the outcome.

9. The Federal Regime has infringed, and continues to infringe on the Right of the People to keep and Bear Arms in attempts to disarm and subjugate the people.

10. The Federal Regime has engaged in a military propaganda campaign against the people of these United States in order to garner moral support for an illegal, undeclared war, by the insertion of Pentagon political operatives in nearly all media organizations.

11. The Federal Regime and Government have targeted political dissidents and publicly declared them terrorists for political purposes.

12. The Federal Government has engaged in fraud by manipulating economic data, accounting data, and statistical data to misinform the public as to the true nature of the Nation’s finances. Members have taken bribes in the form of “campaign contributions” by private interests in order to influence public policy.

13. The Federal Government has established a Tax Code System so pervasive and large that it has become, in practice, taxation without representation. Today it threatens to reduce the Nation to poverty.

14. The Federal Regimes and Government have by legislation subjected the American people to unreasonable searches and seizures and gross violations of privacy that the Federal Government would never tolerate in turn.

15. The Federal Government has created a “Constitution Free zone” extending 100 miles inland from all borders in an effort to subvert the Constitution as the Supreme Law of the land in nearly 2/3 of the Nation.

16. The Federal Government has refused to enforce immigration laws leaving the Nation vulnerable to waves of illegal immigrants and potential international terrorists.


In each instance the American people, using their Constitution as a guide, have petitioned the government for a redress of grievances, be it by vote, protest, or direct contact. All attempts, peaceful in nature, have been met with contempt and answered with further injury to the Rights of the Several States and the People. Such injustices have been suffered patiently. History shows that such a patient suffering of injustices are natural to the People, as the People are often reluctant to fundamentally change or dissolve the establishments to which they are accustomed. But when these establishments become destructive to the Liberty of the People, it is their right and duty to establish new government, and new guards to their future security:

Therefore, We the Undersigned Declare our Independence from the Tyranny of the Federal Government and it’s regimes. And to this end we pledge our lives, our fortunes, and our Sacred Honor.