1 17 10 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

1 17 10 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

1 10 10 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

About Dr. Vliet

Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD

Elizabeth Lee Vliet, MD, is the founder and Medical Director of HER Place®: Health Enhancement
and Renewal for Women, Inc.®, whose programs examine and evaluate the hormone changes that
affect women physically, emotionally, and socially.

A nationally recognized speaker on women's health issues, Dr. Vliet has presented numerous
scientific papers and keynote addresses at regional, national, and international conferences.
She regularly teaches Continuing Medical Education courses on Women's Health to
physicians and other health professionals.

Healthcare for All Has Become Punishment for All
By: Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D.

In the 2008 campaign, we heard healthcare in this country is "broken" and must be "reformed." 
We heard "healthcare reform" would be the signature piece of an Obama Presidency.  We
were promised no new taxes on anyone earning less than $250,000 per year.  We heard
promises of transparency in government.  We heard promises of a White House that would
listen to all.  Now that President Obama and a Democratic majority are in office, what have
we gotten?

The healthcare proposals have become a massive power grab to control your money, your
health options, your businesses, your liberty, and ultimately your life.  It is not about insuring
the poor.  We already have Medicaid to cover the poor.

What the Democratic majority is doing to healthcare in this country is a crime.  Punishment
won't fall on Congress and the President, who are excluded from the healthcare proposals. 
Punishment falls on the American people, especially the elderly.

Word of a new "stealth" strategy to ram healthcare "reform" through the Senate raises even
more cause for alarm and adds to the crime of this massive power grab.  The plan appears to
be for Senator Majority Leader Reid to merge the two Senate bills that have passed out of
committee, and attach them as an amendment to a House TARP bill, already passed by the
House but curiously gathering dust in the Senate.  Once the Senate votes on this "TARP" bill
with the healthcare amendment tucked neatly inside, the healthcare punishment is a "done
deal" without further debate.  Such an abuse of power and due process would be an
unforgiveable crime against the American people, perpetrated by the very people elected to
represent us.

Instead of "health insurance for all," the House and Senate healthcare bills have become
punishment for all.  Here is the list of Americans who face the healthcare "reform" punishment:

-          Punishment for the sick.  Those who have medical expenses each year will no longer
be able to deduct those expenses on taxes until the expenses reach 10% of adjusted gross
income (AGI).  The current deduction is set at expenses above 7.5% of AGI, so the Senate
plan now ADDS a 2.5% tax on those who are already paying out of pocket for medical expenses. 
Clearly, if someone is spending more than 7.5% on medical costs, that person is ill.  The Senate
bill makes the sick even sicker from the stress of having to pay more taxes!

-          Punishment for the elderly.  Medicare cuts of 404 BILLION is the latest figure released
by the Senate; earlier the White House budget office said $500 Billion - more than a full year's
Medicare budget - would have to be cut from Medicare.  How can anyone begin to think these
cuts will not penalize the elderly by delaying, rationing, or denying treatment?

-          Punishment for young people.  Young healthy people who do not buy government
mandated insurance will be punished in the form of a excise tax - reported amounts have been
from $1900 to $3800 per person.

-          Punishment for anyone not paying the excise tax. The IRS fine for non-payment of tax
can be $25,000 and a year in jail.  So those who are punished by the new tax risk being accused
of a tax crime if they don't buy government-mandated insurance and who don't pay the penalty tax.

-          Punishment for insurance companies.  Companies providing "generous health insurance
plans" will be hit with a 35% tax.

-           Punishment for consumers who buy "generous" health insurance policies, as the tax on
insurance companies is passed on to purchasers.

-          Punishment for those who buy their own health insurance.a new 40% tax.  Does it really
make sense to punish the responsible people who take care of their own healthcare bills?

-          Punishment for low income seniors, Hispanics, and Blacks who will lose their Medicare
Advantage program under the new proposals.

-          Punishment for those with Health Savings Accounts - HSAs will be extinct.

-          Punishment for specialists who serve mainly elderly patients, such as cardiologists and
oncologists.  Such specialists are slated to have their reimbursements for services slashed by
44% under the Senate bill.

-          Punishment for medical device makers in the form of new taxes (a tax that will be passed
on to consumers).

-          Punishment for all doctors, who are required to purchase expensive new computer
systems and software to convert to Electronic Medical Records to meet the 2014 mandates
in the Stimulus Bill.

-          Punishment for those who value their medical privacy.  The Stimulus Bill requires all
physicians, beginning in 2014, to send patients' medical records directly to the federal health
czar without further permission from patients.

-          Punishment for all 50 State governments.  Already running at a deficit with the
recession, State governments face catastrophic increases in costs with Medicaid costs
being shifted to them by the Federal government under the new proposals.

-          Punishment for everyone, due to Speaker Pelosi's proposal for a National Sales Tax
(also called a VAT) to pay for healthcare reform. This new tax would hit everyone hard in a
recession, and would be on TOP of existing state and local sales taxes.

Punishments for all.  All, that is, except the exempted elite: members of Congress, the
President and his family, trial lawyers, and Unions (SEIU, AFL-CIO, and others).  The
exempted elite retain their private care while becoming the very ones who force more taxes,
penalties, higher costs as punishment on the rest of us.

This reminds me of the Soviet Union when I visited there in 1974 and 1975.  The Soviet ruling
elite were the only ones with cars, comfortable apartments.and access to the best healthcare.

I understand at a personal and professional level the perils of government-run healthcare. I
have patients in my practice who have come many countries with government run healthcare
that doesn't address women's unique health needs. I live in a state with a large Native American
population, whose healthcare under the Indian Health Service, run by the federal government,
has been abysmal. I have personally had an emergency hospitalization in England.  I am
walking today because I had the best spine surgery care in the world at Johns Hopkins.  If I
had lived in Britain, or Canada, or Europe and had to wait for MRIs and surgery, I would be
paralyzed from the neck down.

I will never agree that nationalized healthcare anywhere provides better quality of care than we
have in the United States. I am not alone.  Recent polls by different organizations have found
that 80-90% of M.D.'s and D.O.'s oppose government-controlled healthcare.

Don't be fooled by the American Medical Associations endorsement of Obamacare. Only 17%
of practicing physicians actually belong to the AMA. Last week's "white coat" photo op at the
White House was a carefully selected group of 2008 campaign donors "Doctors for Obama."  
They were NOT anymore representative of practicing physicians across this country than the
AMA.

The American people should be even more alarmed by a recent Investors Business Daily poll:
45% of doctors who responded said they would retire or resign from medicine rather than
practice medicine under government control.  Who will take care of patients then?

The proposed healthcare plans are the most massive transfer of power to the executive branch
of government that has ever occurred or has even been contemplated.  This concentration of
power in the executive branch violates the Constitutional requirement for balance of power,
and for separation of powers among the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches of
government.

This crime against the American people is far worse than the Stamp Act levied by King George. 
That was the final straw that set off the first American Revolution.

Dr. Elizabeth Lee Vliet

Elizabeth Lee Vliet, M.D. is a women's health specialist who received her M.D. degree and
internship in Internal Medicine at Eastern Virginia Medical School, then completed specialty
training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.  She received B.S. and M.Ed. degrees from
The College of William and Mary in Virginia. Dr. Vliet is the 2007 recipient of The Voice of
Women award from the Arizona Foundation for Women in recognition of her pioneering advocacy
for the overlooked hormone connections in women's health.

Dr. Vliet's books include: It's My Ovaries, Stupid!; Screaming To Be Heard: Hormonal
Connections Women Suspect- And Doctors STILL  Ignore; Women, Weight and Hormones;
The Savvy Woman's Guide to PCOS. Dr. Vliet is a seasoned expert commentator and a
passionate fighter against government takeover of health care in the proposed Health Care
"Reform" that seeks to eliminate or penalize private options.

Dr. Vliet's educational medical website is www.herplace.com.  Doctor Vliet has been speaking
to the healthcare reform issue on many National TV and Cable Networks, including shows such
as Stuart Varney, Neil Cavuto, Fox & Friends, as well as, many major syndicated radio shows.
For more information on healthcare reform, Dr. Vliet suggests two patient advocate Web sites
on healthcare: www.JoinPatientsFirst.com, www.PatientsUnitedNow.com, or the Association
of American Physicians and Surgeons at www.aapsonline.org.

To book Dr. Vliet on interviews, email Rose Henning at rosehenning@herplace.com or call
520-797-9131 (MST).©Elizabeth Lee Vliet M.D.  10-12-2009

DISCLAIMER: Dr. Vliet speaks as an independent physician, not as an official spokesperson
for any organization. Dr. Vliet has no financial ties to any health care system, pharmaceutical
company, or health insurance plan.  Her allegiance and advocacy is to and for patients.

This entry was posted on October 28, 2009 at 12:27 pm and is filed under Health News, News, Political News.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

1 10 10 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

1 3 10 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Budd J. Hallberg

The United States is on the brink of social, economic and political collapse. Large numbers
of American families operate daily in chaos and whirl. The nation's economy is in shambles
and much of the country's government is corrupt. Return to First Principles examines a
number of socioeconomic and political events which have caused the United States to depart
radically from its foundational roots grounded in First Principles. These developments have
placed the nation on a Marxist-Socialist path to tyranny. The breakdown of the nation's
banking system and the decay of corporate America has resulted in the worst economic
crisis since the Great Depression. If these conditions are left unchecked, there is a high
probability of a full-blown financial meltdown resulting in the destruction of civil society.
This book defines what First Principles are, introduces a new political 'ism' and explores
a number of ways as to how the nation can repair itself-namely by Returning to First
Principles.
______________________________________________________________________

1 3 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Susanna Gratia Hupp

About the Author

10 18 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Paul Aron

Annette Galati Huels

Products for carrying your guns:

Galati XT Rifle Case (301 views)

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http://www.tacticalreview.net

9 27 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

50 States of Freedom panel discussion with Dr. William Ruger, Dr. William Natelson, State
Representatives Frank Antenori and David Gowan, and Goldwater Institute's Nick Dranias

9 27 09 America Armed & Free

The female equivalent of Paul Revere was Cybil Luddington. Hear her story.

9 20 09 12:00 PM Daniel Horne

Zoom See larger image and other views (with zoom)

Daniel Horne, suburban family man and respected CFO, was involved in a DUI automobile
accident in 2005. Despite discovering medical conditions that could have proved his innocence,
Horne pled guilty to being a violent felon, and served one torturous year in Arizona's notorious
Tent City jail, where he almost died.

9 20 09 1:00 PM

Lee Boyland

Product Description

9 13 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

There are some failry glowing frauds in the Obamunist in chief's health care speech last
week. Listen to me lambaste them vociferously.

9 13 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Helias Doundoulakis

An American-born boy grew up in a small village on the Greek island of
Crete. In his last year in high school, he witnessed the German invasion
of Crete, in May of 1941, during the early days of WW II. At the age of
eighteen, he joined a resistance group headed by his brother, and supp-
lied crucial information to the SOE, an arm of the English Intelligence
Service. This resistance group is uncovered, resulting in their hasty
evacuation by the SOE, to Cairo, Egypt.

In Cairo, the author and his brother were asked to join the English
Intelligence Service, but rather, pursued the American OSS, or Office
of Strategic Services, the newly formed American intelligence counterpart.
They were enlisted into the US Army, and attached to the OSS, where the
author was trained in the SI, or Secret Intelligence sector, which included
parachute jumping, wireless/Morse code training, commando/defense
training, locks/safe-cracking techniques, escape methods, and environ-
ment assimilation techniques.

After being transformed into a skilled "spy", the author was sent back to Greece undercover, and along
with a Greek naval intelligence officer, set up a communications cell in Salonica, Greece's second
largest city, whereby daily coded messages to OSS Headquarters in Cairo were sent. One such mes-
sage describes the course of events surrounding the bombing of the main railroad yard in Salonica, and
the loss of thousands of German troops, as well as recalling the near-capture encounters with the
German Gestapo and the Greek police. The author also recounts his personal experiences of his
escape from Crete through the mountains, the evacuations by an English torpedo boat, his OSS
training, the return mission to Greece, and his final return to the United States.

9 6 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

By Zane F Pollard, MD

I have been sitting quietly on the sidelines watching all of this national debate on
healthcare. It is time for me to bring some clarity to the table by explaining many of
the problems from the perspective of a doctor.

First off, the government has involved very few of us physicians in the  healthcare
debate. While the American Medical Association has come out in favor of the plan,
it is vital to remember that the AMA only represents 17% of the American physician
workforce.

I have taken care of Medicaid patients for 35 years while representing the only
pediatric ophthalmology group left in Atlanta, Georgia that accepts Medicaid. For
example, in the past 6 months I have cared for three young children on Medicaid
who had corneal ulcers. This is a potentially blinding situation because if the cornea
perforates from the infection, almost surely blindness will occur. In all three cases
the antibiotic needed for the eradication of the infection was not on the approved
Medicaid list.

Each time I was told to fax Medicaid for the approval forms, which I did. Within
48 hours the form came back to me which was sent in immediately via fax, and I
was told that I would have my answer in 10 days. Of course by then each child
would have been blind in the eye.

Each time the request came back denied. All three times I personally provided the
antibiotic for  each patient which was not on the Medicaid approved  list. Get the
point -- rationing of care.

Over the past 35 years I have cared for over 1000 children born with congenital
cataracts. In older children and in adults the vision is rehabilitated with an intraocular
lens. In newborns we use contact lenses which are very expensive. It takes Medicaid
over one year to approve a contact lens post  cataract surgery. By that time a
successful anatomical operation is wasted as the child will be close to blind from
a lack of focusing for so long a period of time.

Again, extreme rationing. Solution: I have a foundation here in Atlanta supported 
100% by private funds which supplies all of these contact lenses for  my Medicaid
and illegal immigrants children for free. Again, waiting for the government would be
disastrous.

Last week I  had a lady bring her child to me. They are Americans but live in Sweden,
as the father has a job with a big corporation. The child had the onset of double vision
3 months ago and has been unable to function normally because of this. They are
people of means but are waiting 8 months to see the ophthalmologist in Sweden.
Then if the child needed surgery they would be put on a 6 month waiting list. She
called me and I saw her that day. It turned out that  the child had  accommodative
esotropia (crossing of the eyes treated with glasses that  correct for farsightedness)
and  responded to glasses within  4 days, so no surgery was needed. Again, rationing
of care.

Last month I operated on a 70 year old lady with double vision present for 3  years.
She responded quite nicely to her surgery and now is symptom free. I also operated
on a 69 year old  judge with vertical double vision. His surgery went very well and now
he is happy as a lark.  I have  been told -- but of course  there is no healthcare bill that
has been passed yet -- that these  2 people because of their age would have  been
denied  surgery and just told to wear a patch over one eye to alleviate the symptoms
of double vision. Obviously cheaper than surgery.

I spent  two year  in the  US Navy during the Viet Nam war and was well treated by the
military. There was tremendous  rationing of care and we were told specifically what
things the military personnel and their dependents could have and which things they
could not have. While I was in Viet Nam, my wife Nancy got sick  and got essentially
no care at the Naval Hospital inOakland, California. She went home and went to her
family's  private internist in Beverly Hills. While it was expensive, she received an
immediate work up. Again rationing of care.

For those of you who are  over 65, this  bill in its present form might be lethal for you.
People in England over 59 cannot receive stents for their coronary arteries. The
government wants to mimic the British  plan. For those of you younger, it will still
mean restriction of the care that you and your children receive.

While 99% of physicians went into  medicine because of the love of  medicine and
the  challenge of helping our fellow man, economics are still important. My rent goes
up 2% each year and the salaries of my employees go up 2% each year. Twenty years
ago, ophthalmologists were  paid $1800 for a cataract  surgery and today $500. This
is a 73%  decrease in our  fees. I do not know of many jobs in America that have seen
this sort of lowering of fees.

But there is more to the story than just the lower fees. When I came to Atlanta, there
was a well known ophthalmologist that charged $2500 for a cataract surgery as he felt
the was the best. He had a terrific reputation and in fact  I had my mother's bilateral
cataracts  operated on by him with a wonderful  result. She is now 94 and has 20/20
vision in both eyes. People would pay his  $2500 fee.

However, then the government came in and said that any doctor that  does  Medicare
work cannot accept  more than the going rate ( now $500) or  he or she would be 
severely fined. This put an end to his charging  $2500. The government said it was
illegal to accept more than the government-allowed  rate. What  I am driving at is that
those of you well off  will not  be able to go to the head of the line under this new 
healthcare plan, just because you have money, as no physician will be  willing to go
against the law to treat  you.

I am a pediatric ophthalmologist and trained for  10 years post-college to become a
pediatric ophthalmologist (add  two years  of my service in the Navy and that comes 
to 12 years).A neurosurgeon spends 14  years post -college, and if  he or she has to
do the military that would be 16 years. I am not entitled to make what a neurosurgeon
makes, but the new plan calls for all physicians to make the same amount of payment.
I assure you that medical students will not go into neurosurgery and we will have a
tremendous shortage of neurosurgeons. Already, the top neurosurgeon at my hospital
who is in good health and only 52 years old has just quit because he can't stand
working with the government anymore. Forty-nine percent  of children under the age 
of 16 in the state of Georgia are on Medicaid, so he felt he just could not stand
working with the bureaucracy anymore.

We are being lied to about the  uninsured. They are getting care. I operate on at least
2  illegal immigrants each month who pay me nothing, and the children's hospital at
which I operate charges them nothing also. This is true not only on Atlanta, but of
every community in America.

The bottom line is that I urge all of you to contact your congresswomen and
congressmen and senators to defeat this bill. I promise you that you will not like
rationing of your own health.

Furthermore, how can you trust a physician that works under these conditions knowing
that he is controlled by the state. I certainly could not trust any doctor that  would work
under these  draconian conditions.

One last thing: with this new healthcare plan there will be a tremendous shortage of
physicians. It has been estimated that  approximately 5% of the current physician work
force  will quit under this new  system. Also it is estimated that another 5% shortage
will occur because of the decreased number of men and women wanting to go into
medicine. At the present time the USgovernment has  mandated gender equity in 
admissions to medical schools .That means that  for the past  15 years  that 
somewhere  between 49 and 51% of  each entering class are females. This is true
of private schools also, because all private schools receive federal funding.

The average  career of a woman in medicine now is only 8-10 years and the average work
week for a female in medicine is only 3-4 days. I have now trained 35  fellows in pediatric
ophthalmology. Hands down the  best was  a female that I trained  4 years  ago -- she 
was head and  heels above all  others I have trained. She now  practices  only 3 days a
week.

8 6 09 1 PM America Armed & Free

James Sherk, Heritage Foundation

President Obama's Failed Stimulus

When President Barack Obama sold his $787 billion stimulus package to the American people, he
set one metric for success: jobs. Specifically, President Obama promised the American people he
would create 4.1 million jobs by the end of 2010. According to the President's plan, the stimulus
should have lowered the nation's unemployment rate below 8% by this August. That is the objective
standard the President set for himself.

And according to objective data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics this morning, President
Obama's policies, and his stimulus package, have been complete failures. BLS reports that the
number of unemployed persons increased by 466,000 in August raising the nation's unemploy-
ment to 9.7% . the highest it has been in 26 years.

Faced with the failure of their signature economic policy, the Obama administration trotted out
Vice President Joe Biden to defend the stimulus yesterday in a speech to the Brookings Institute.
Biden claimed that the stimulus bill created or saved between 500,000 and 750,000 jobs. This is
demonstrably false. Job creation has fallen since the stimulus became law. When Congress
passed the stimulus in February the new hire rate had fallen to 3.2%. The most recent data,
from June 2009, shows that after the stimulus passed, job creation fell even further to 2.9%.
Employers are creating fewer jobs than they did before the stimulus was passed.

Other data also shows that job creation has fallen sharply. Gallup surveys show that far fewer
Americans report that their companies are hiring than a year ago. Last August 37% of Americans
reported their companies were hiring. That figure has now fallen to 24%. Lower job creation
accounts for roughly two-thirds of the increase in unemployment since the recession began.

Why has private-sector job creation fallen so sharply? The obvious and broad answer is the
recession. A more precise answer is that business owners have grown wary about the future of
the economy and consequently business investment has fallen sharply since the recession began.
As businesses cut investments in new projects they have less need to hire, and job creation falls.
As long as business investment remains low and entrepreneurs hold back from starting new
enterprises, job creation will remain low-and unemployment, high.

Yesterday Vice President Biden said the stimulus "doesn't reflect a lack of design; that was the
design." This is exactly why the stimulus has failed to reduce unemployment. Congress spending
tens of billions of dollars on highway projects does nothing to encourage any business owners
who do not build highways that potential investments will succeed. Spending tens of billions
more to bail out state governments does not encourage an entrepreneur to take the risk of
starting a small business. Government spending programs do not encourage the risk taking
and innovation and investment needed to spur lasting job creation.

Who creates jobs? Employers with profitable businesses, investing and creating wealth. The
stimulus bill was a grab bag of traditional liberal priorities that did nothing to encourage private
sector employers to invest or create jobs. If anything the stimulus discourages investment and
job creation. The enormous increase in federal spending that President Obama has undertaken
raise the prospects of vastly higher taxes or rapidly rising inflation.

The federal deficit is expected to approach $2 trillion this year, and to remain well above $1 trillion
for many years to come, doubling the national debt in just five years. This situation is not
sustainable, but businesses can only guess how the federal government will restore order to its
fiscal house, knowing full well that successful businesses make an attractive tax target. In the
face of such a threatening environment, it is not surprising that job creation has fallen since
President Obama signed the stimulus.

8 30 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Steven Milroy

5.0 out of 5 stars The Political Left Then and Now, March 19, 2009 By  Fritz R. Ward "dayhiker" (Crestline, CA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)       It was not that long ago that the main complaint of left wing critics of the American economy was that it produced poverty and appalling social conditions. "Capitalism" was simply a code word for the rich getting richer and everyone else getting poorer. And it was certainly true that the "rich" did get richer, often by improving the life of their customers. Rockefeller did not make money by raising the price of oil; he made money by lowering it and improving the standard of living for millions. But, while the original critique was flawed, the sentiment was one of generating wealth for average Americans. Even as late as 1962 when Michael Harrington wrote The Other America this sentiment still dominated left wing politics. How things have changed. Today, the political left is "green" and their main complaint is not that capitalism produces poverty. They know capitalism produces affluence. And they oppose it. Americans, they complain, consume "too much" and need to make do with less, because the planet is threatened by a whole host of potential ills that require we act now, regardless of the cost. Global warming is only the latest of their concerns, having replaced the completely discredited 'population bomb' threatened in the late 1960s. And their proposed solutions, outlined in their own words, are truly frightening. The old left proposals did not produce affluence, but the new "green" proposals will surely accomplish their goal of impoverishing people if they have their way and increasingly, as Green Hell author Steve Milloy warns, they are. Green Hell is not a book which discusses in any detail the "science" behind global warming or the actual effects of pesticides, the relative benefits of nuclear power v. coal, solar etc. Readers who are interested in such topics will find an abundance of information on the author's website, Junkscience.com. But what this book does, and does very well, is to outline what "Greens" want for the rest of us, their proposals and what they will cost in terms of freedom and even basic necessities, how they "sell" their ideas, and their hypocrisy. It is a frightening book in many respects, and very well documented with 36 pages of small print end notes. Before describing some of the Green proposals, one should ask who the "Greens" are. Simply put, they are the leaders of a variety of organizations such as the National Resource Defense Fund, Rainforest Action Network, the US Climate Action Partnership, and a variety of similar groups with non-profit status but which nonetheless bring in millions of dollars from companies with "green products" that they cannot sell on a free market. These companies hope to make money the old fashioned way, by government regulations mandating their products. They also get money from various idealistic individual donors and no small amount of government tax dollars in the form of various grants. Milloy, of course, recognizes that these groups do share identical agendas, and he is certainly not creating a "green" bogeyman. Indeed, he has a great deal of fun discussing the travails of Seattle where one green group will use a variety of lawsuits and public actions to limit the building of new freeways, in favor of "rail" transport, while another green group will work to oppose the building of rail. But the net of effects of all these actions is to lower everyone's standard of living all in the name of an ideology that is basically anti human. So what are the "green" proposals that Milloy documents in this book. We know several of them. Drive less. Use "smart" "energy-efficient" technology, limit your "carbon footprint" and a host of other platitudes that sound so wonderful you have to wonder how anyone could oppose this sort of thing. Who, after all, is opposed to "smart" and "optimal" lifestyles, "choice" in transportation, and limiting emissions. Well, quite a few people when you read the actual proposals, which is why so many of the green proposals are so vague in the way they are phrased for public consumption. Indeed, as Milloy points out, the manipulation of language is one of the great triumphs of green political activism. But when you examine the details of these proposals, it quickly becomes clear that "drive less" actually imposes significant costs on people, especially when the proposed alternatives are fuel cell buses which cost a mere 3 million dollars a piece, break down frequently, are costly to repair, and do not get you where you need to go. And why not take fewer vacations? Carbon hog that I am, I will leave to go hike Yosemite after I finish this review, but many greens favor centrally planned communities where I need never drive a car, and will certainly not have access to one when I try to visit other places. Virtually no one is talking about the significant impositions of freedom these plans will cost, and few (of the proponents anyway) are honest about rather mundane costs in taxes, both direct and indirect, to subsidize these plans. What's a few thousand per family when we are saving the planet? But the Green proposals do not stop with simply limiting personal freedom and cutting back what people can afford to do. As Milloy documents, they are also busy creating a water crisis by limiting supplies to fresh water. They were markedly successful in California by drastically cutting back the water supply of the California Aquaduct from the Delta River. The ostensible concern was the protection of the 3 inch Delta smelt, but the reality was that the Fish and Wildlife Service found no evidence the smelt was threatened. Oh well. But southern California now faces mandatory water rationing. And rather than honestly admit that the problem is caused by a political intrusion into the water market, these same Greens are blaming drought and our inability to "conserve." So naturally enough, emboldened by their sucess in California, these same green activists are busy opposing desalinization plants along the coast and limiting access to the Great Lakes, where 82% of the fresh water in North America is found. The goal of "conservation" is so important that these activists will actively work to create a crisis event if none exists to further their agenda. One could go on and on. Perhaps the most frightening element of the Green agenda Milloy documents in this book is the extent to which it costs human lives. From preventing the use of DDT to fight malaria, and other insecticides to combat west nile virus (for which, he now notes, CDC is limited to suggesting century old proposals) to preventing the use of adequate fire retardants, Green proposals cost lives, and the numbers here are growing. Milloy does of course recognize that there is no free lunch. Pesticides are not entirely risk free, though neither is getting up in the morning. But used properly, there is not a single documented case of a child dying from pesticides. There are many cases of diseases born by pests harming children. But the green analysis of protecting our kids by virtually banning pesticides in schools (by the simple expedient of regulating their use to the point of making them too expensive to use on a regular basis) simply does not make any sort of cost benefit comparison in terms of human lives. And the costs of their proposals are enormous. All of which makes the hypocrisy of the very wealthy green activists even more galling. We all know that Al Gore uses far more energy than virtually anyone else in Tennessee. But what Milloy details is that Gore is hardly an isolated case. Many of the uber wealthy green supporters, including the ubiquitous T. Boone Pickens and Google founders Paige and Brin are equally keen to raise prices for all of us, but quite happy to continue to waste energy themselves. Even President Obama, after lecturing Americans on the campaign trail to give up the 72 degree thermostat setting has found the oval office a bit too cool for his taste, and has actually increased his energy consumption. "Conservation for thee and not for me," would seem to encompass his view of the "leadership" he promised on this issue. Indeed, the World Wildlife Fund, which is forever urging the rest of us to give up our consumerism, is not above offering exclusive wildlife viewing trips for the uberwealthy at $64,500 a pop on private jets. Milloy took great pleasure in using the WWF's own carbon footprint calculator to find the "cost" of the trip. It should not surprise anyone that the "costs" exceed the yearly energy allotment many greens would like to see you and I live with for the rest of our lives. There is far too much in this book to cover in one review, but the one topic which Milloy did not discuss is how today's "greens" are destroying one of the great accomplishments of modern civilization: the conservation movement. There is a great deal of irony in this. Modern green leaders like to pretend that they are following in the footsteps of Muir, Pinchot, and others, but the reality is if they have their way, we will all lose some of our most precious heritage. One of the great accomplishments of capitalism was to make food so widely available that land could be put aside for aesthetic, and especially recreational uses. In the early 20th century, national parks, monuments and state parks were created to promote recreation and give people an escape from civilization. But the new Green agenda changes that dynamic drastically. In the first instance, it inhibits travel for recreation. But beyond that, the anti human aspect of green thought prevents enjoying these resources to their fullest. Muir once argued no one had fully experienced life until they had camped under the Sequoias. But under pressure from modern activists with dubious scientific arguments, all development of any sort (campgrounds, cabins) are gone from the Sequoia groves, replaced by expensive lodges that are out of financial reach for the average person and located some distance from the groves, access to which may well be increasingly restricted in the future. Many greens applaud these "de-developments" but it is worth noting that in planning their "managed communities" where people live above their work site, rarely travel and never truly experience a wilderness, they are not following in the footsteps of Muir. Instead, they are transporting us to a brave new world where freedom is a thing of the past, and the recreational, indeed spiritual, values of the wilderness are no longer available to any but the privileged wealthy green elites. What Milloy has documented then is not just the "green agenda." He has documented a fundamental change in the American left. It is a change from concern, however misguided, about average people, to an open defense of the wealthy elites, and an economy that is designed to perpetuate this stratification in a way capitalism never could. It is a horrific vision and one which, unfortunately is now guiding American domestic policy.

8 30 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Skip Coryell, Founder

Skip Coryell is the author of several books including: "RKBA: Defending the Right to
Keep and Bear Arms" and "Blood in the Streets". He writes a weekly column for the Michigan
Coalition for Responsible Gun Owners (MCRGO).

There is an upcoming national march being planned about the Second Amendment.

http://www.secondamendmentmarch.com/about.htm
___________________________________________________________________________

8 23 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Author & media critic Alan Korwin

"Does the media have a duty to truthfully report the facts?"

http://pagenine.typepad.com/ 
____________________________________________________________________________

8 23 09 1PM America Armed & Free

"Saving our museum treasures - the USS Clamagore"

Clamagore is the only existing GUPPY III Class diesel electric
submarine still in existence. It needs your help.

________________________________________________________________________

8 16 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Fred Kelley Grant

"Using federal law ("FLIMA") to maintain property rights

Fred has been an attorney for nearly 50 years, and he has succeeded in stopping
the federal government from encroaching on the private property rights of many
farmes and ranchers. Few lawyers can be called heroic. This guy can be.
__________________________________________________________________________

8 16 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Attorneys panel from the 2008 Gun Rights Policy Conference

"How to litigate after the Heller Decision. "

Strategy session on how to enforce our recently affirmed rights at the local
level through incorporation of the 2nd Amendment against the states.
___________________________________________________________________________

8 9 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Brian O'Dea

http://www.amazon.com/High-Confessions-International-Drug-Smuggler/dp/159051310X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1249798687&sr=8-1 By

Michael A. Duvernois (Minneapolis, MN United States) -Some things jump right out at you, $100
Million a year smuggling operation, a massive cocaine
habit, the threat of the federal prisons, and a reformed man now working as a television and film
producer. But it's the smaller scale details, living from day to day, that make this such an
interesting book. Glimpses into another life, another way of dealing with society, and some
big life changes.
__________________________________________________________________

8 9 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Mat Staver, Founder, Liberty Council

"Should Americans be willing ro turn in critics of government policy,
to the White House?"

8 2 09 12:00 Liberty Watch

Mark Sankey "Butting Heads With a Genuine Butehad"

06/10/09

Rep. Grijalva Shows His True Colors When Asked to Discuss Controversial Bill

My wife and I along with my 12 year daughter and neighbor recently had an appointment
to discuss a bill with Rep. Grijalva. All we wanted was a chance to voice our concerns about the
bill and to hear his explanations in return.

Rep. Grijalva is a co-sponsor of the Freedom of Choice Act which, in part, will allow
teenage girls to have abortions without the consent or knowledge of their parents. We feel this
is an invasion of parental rights, regardless of one's position on abortion.

It was clear from start that he did not want to hear us out. Astonishingly, his first words
were, "You insisted on having this meeting so what do you got?" Even worse was the fact that
he made no introductions and initiated no handshakes. He even refused to turn down the TV
blaring in the background and never offered seats to the women or children.

He constantly interrupted us, making it difficult for us to complete a sentence, let alone
explain our opinions about the bill. Perhaps he's never mastered the handshake, but he certainly
has mastered the politician's second best move: avoiding questions and sidestepping explanations.
His last, brusque words to us were, "We're done here"?despite the fact that we felt like we had
never gotten started.

When I went to visit Rep. Grijalva, I was hoping to show my 12-year-old daughter and
my Hispanic neighbor, who became a US citizen just one year ago, what true democracy looks
like. Instead they saw the ugly side of politics, nothing but a congressman who is courageous
enough to attach his name to a controversial bill but is too cowardly to defend his views to his
constituents.

Mark Sankey
Tucson, AZ

 8 2 09 12:30 Liberty Watch

July 30, 2009

Exclusive: Obama's New Food Act to Seal Sorry State of America's Farms

Paul Williams, Ph.D.

"We are a nation built on the strength of individual initiative. But there are certain things
that we can't do on our own. There are certain things that only a government can do.
And one of those things is ensuring that the foods we eat .are safe and don't cause
us harm." - President Barack Obama, March 14, 2009

 

This situation is about to change with the Food Safety Enhancement Act (H.R. 2749)
which was scheduled for consideration this week under suspension of the standard r
ules governing congressional legislation. 

 

The Ranking Member of the House Agricultural Committee urged his colleagues not to
rush The Food Safety Enhancement Act (H.R. 2749) through Congress. The move to
suspend the rules was defeated by two votes.

 

The suspension would mean limited debate of 20 minutes and no opportunity to offer
amendments. Congressman Frank Lucas (R-Oklahoma) rang an alarm. He said the
proposed legislation is the result of a flawed and incomplete process that would lead
to huge regulatory burdens that would force the majority of America's farmers and
ranchers out of business without contributing much, if anything, to the goal of safer
food.

 

Though the rules have not been suspended, the legislation, according to
Congressman Lucas, is still expected to meet with House approval.

 

But few on Capitol Hill are heeding Congressman Lucas's warning.

     

As proposed by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Los Angeles, H. R. 2749 will grant the Food
and Drug Administration the power to regulate all farms and farm produce in an attempt
to purge America's farmland of E. coli O157:H7, a lethal, food-borne bacteria.

     

Under the terms of the bill, crops must be grown in sterile areas, surrounded by 450
foot buffers, so that they are not exposed to other vegetation, runoff water, birds,
beasts, or wildlife of any kind.

     

To create such sterile farms, ponds will be poisoned; wetlands drained; and streams
re-routed to safeguard the crops from untreated water.

     

Trees will be bulldozed from agricultural corridors to protect the fields from bird droppings.

     

Fields will be lined with poison-filled tubes to kill rodents.

     

All children under five will be prohibited from stepping foot on farmland or tilled soil for
fear of leaking diapers.

     

A crow landing in a cornfield will mandate the destruction of the entire corn crop.

     

Sounds crazy but it's true. Such protocols are already in place throughout California.
They were implemented by leading corporate agribusiness to offset the possibility of
lawsuits erupting from a new breakout of E coli in supermarkets and food chains.

     

Known as the Leafy Green Marketing Agreement, the California protocols set into
place by industrial farming concerns have resulted in the destruction of vast tracts
of verdant farmland and the end of the line for many family farmers.

     

Dick Peixoto, a California grower, has ripped out such plants in the name of food
safety, because his big customers now demand sterile crops. "I was driving by a
field where a squirrel fed off the end of the field, and so 30 feet in we had to destroy
the crop," Peixoto told a San Francisco Chronicle reporter. "On one field where a
deer walked through, didn't eat anything, just walked through and you could see
the tracks, we had to take out 30 feet on each side of the tracks and annihilate
the crop."

     

E. coli O157:H7 first appeared in hamburger meat in the early 1980s and migrated
to certain kinds of produce, mainly lettuce and other leafy greens that are cut, mixed
and bagged for the convenience of supermarket shoppers. Hundreds of thousands
of the bug can fit on the head of a pin; as few as 10 can lodge in a salad and end
in lifelong disability, including organ failure.

     

In September 2006 the deadly bug was discovered in Dole bagged spinach that had
been processed at Earthbound Farms in San Juan Bautista (San Benito County).
The outbreak killed four people, sent 103 to hospitals, and devastated the spinach
industry

     

To this day, scientists do not know how the killer E. coli pathogen made its way from
the guts of cows to the spinach field in California.

     

In December 2006, new outbreaks of E. coli were traced to Taco Bell restaurants in
New Jersey and Long Island, N.Y. Green onions suspected, then lettuce. Thirty-nine
people had been hospitalized, some with acute kidney failure.

     

To make matters worse, the scattered cases of E-coli were accompanied by outbreaks
of Salmonella Saintpaul, a bacterium that can cause serious and often deadly infections.

     

In June 2008, more than 1,000 people became sickened by salmonella in 41 states.
Over two hundred of the victims required hospitalization, and one died. Tomatoes
were suspected. Growers were ordered by the Food and Drug Administration to
destroy their crops. This order resulted in the abandonment of thousands of farms
throughout the country -an order which proved to be unwarranted. The Salmonella
Saintpaul was later traced to serrano peppers grown in Mexico.

     

The double whammy of bacteria has resulted in lawsuits that have cost large food
retailers over $100 million in court settlements.

     

And the problem has not gone away.

     

In October 2008, salmonella was found in peanut butter that had been manufactured
by the Georgia plant of the Peanut Corporation of America plant. Nine people died,
and an estimated 22,500 were sickened. Criminal negligence was alleged after the
product tested positive and was shipped.

     

In June 2009, E. coli was found in Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough that
came from a facility in Danville, Virginia. Seventy-two people in 30 states were
sickened. The incident resulted in the recall of 3.6 million packages of cookies. No
traces of the bacteria have been detected on the equipment or the workers in Danville.
Investigators are currently looking at the flour and the other ingredients.

     

Large agribusiness concerns and the major food retailers, wanting to ward off future
outbreaks and lawsuits, set forth the draconian measures for the sterilization of farms. 
These measures were incorporated by Rep. Waxman and his committee in the formation
of the Food Safety Enhancement Act.

     

If passed, the Act will grant the FDA the authority to regulate how crops are raised and
harvested; to quarantine a geographic area; to make warrant-less searches of business
records; and to establish a national food tracing system. It will impose annual registration
fees of $500 on all facilities holding, processing, or manufacturing food. Farmers who
fail to comply with the new regulations will be subjected to fines and criminal prosecution.

     

Edward Hopkins, a master farmer in Northeastern Pennsylvania for 73 years, says that
the new law will put him out of business. "My fields are not big enough to create the
necessary buffers," he says.

     

Mr. Hopkins maintains that the legislation will result in a sharp price increase so that
only the wealthy will be able to afford fresh produce. "The poor and the middle class,"
he contends, "will have to rely on food that is processed, canned, frozen, or vegetables
that come from their own gardens."

     

"The law will require me to shoot an American Eagle if it flies over my fields," Mr. Hopkins
adds.

     

Similar concerns have been raised by other farmers. "There's been a battle cry in North
Carolina that the FDA is coming onto the farm," Rep. Mike McIntyre, D-N.C., told the press.

    

The U.S. Department of Agriculture oversees most farms, but, at present, regulates only
meat, poultry and egg safety. The new law would extend the agency's oversight to all
produce.

     

"Sanitizing American agriculture, aside from being impossible, is foolhardy," said University
of California food guru Michael Pollan, who most recently made his case for smaller-scale
farming in the documentary film "Food, Inc." "You have to think about what's the logical
end point of looking at food this way. It's food grown indoors hydroponically."

     

Several scientists suggest that many of the protocols in the new legislation - such as
the removing vegetation near field crops -could make food less safe. Vegetation and
wetlands are a landscape's lungs and kidneys, filtering out not just fertilizers, sediments
and pesticides, but also pathogens. Researchers from the University of California found
that vegetation buffers can remove as much as 98 percent of E. coli from surface water.
They also warn that rodents often prefer cleared areas for their picnics.

     

"It's all based on panic and fear, and the science is not there," said Dr. Andy Gordus,
an environmental scientist with the California Department of Fish and Game.

     

This statement is supported by a study - released in April by the U.S. Department of
Agriculture -which found that less than one-half of 1 percent of 866 wild animals
tested positive for E. coli O157:H7 in Central California.

     

Frogs are unrelated to E. coli, but their remains in bags of mechanically harvested
greens are unsightly, Dr. Gordus said, so "the industry has been using food safety
as a premise to eliminate frogs."

     

Under the new legislation, frogs and farmers will meet the same fate.

 

FamilySecurityMatters.org Contributing Editor Paul L. Williams is the author of The
Day of Islam: The Annihilation of America and the Western World, The Al Qaeda
Connection, and other best-selling books. He is a frequent guest on such national
news networks as ABC News, CBS News, Fox News, MSNBC, and NPR. Visit his
website at http://thelastcrusade.org.

http://www.channelingreality.com/Digital_Treason/Collectivization_by_Computer_System.htm

 

H.R. 2749 - Collectivization by Computer System

 

 

July 30, 2009, H.R. 2749 cited as the ?Food Safety Enhancement Act of 2009' was passed by the House of Representatives.  It will now go to the Senate.  Despite what the title says about this being about Food Safety, it isn't about that.  This legislation is a classic example of collectivization by computer system.  It establishes the government management structure and requirements for the supply chain management system for food producers, importers and exporters.   [ Full Text of H.R. 2749 ]

 

H.R. 2749

"An Act to amend the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act to improve

the safety of food in the global market, and for other purposes".

 

 

If you own a farm, you can keep the deed in your name, but it will be under new management and you will become an unpaid employee of the government - induction into government service by the incremental addition of reporting and procedural requirements over a period of several years.  Some people have tried to point to Sec. 5. USDA exemptions to say that farms are excluded but they aren't.  The exemption reads:

 

Sec. 5. USDA Exemptions.

 

(d) Farms - A farm is exempt from the requirements of this Act to the extent such farm raises animals from which food is derived that is regulated under the Federal Meat Inspection Act, the Poultry Products Inspection Act, or the Egg Products Inspection Act.

 

Your food animals are covered under other legislation as indicated above and by the NAIS Animal tracking system whenever the government IT System Architects can slip it into law making it mandatory. But if you grow crops for sale, you are still included in the H.R. 2749 legislation.  

 

Section 101. Changes in Registration of Food Facilities

 

(b) Annual Registration

(1)(A) The term ?facility' means any factory, warehouse, or establishment (including a factory warehouse, or establishment of an importer) that manufactures, processes, packs, or holds food.

 

Under Section D, it defines a ?farm' as being ?an operation in one general physical location devoted to the growing and harvesting of crops, the raising of animals (including seafood), or both'.  But you can only be considered a ?farm' for these purposes if you don't sell anything you grow to anybody but a consumer - with consumer being defined a ?not a business'.    

 

For the privilege of having the government takeover management of your farm, you will have to pay a $500 annual registration fee - subject to increases every year of course.  Failure to pay will be treated as a claim of the United States Government against your property - presumably meaning, they can attach it.   

 

This legislation defines some very expensive "science-based" analysis and reporting requirements.  Hazard and Food Safety specify Category 1 Facilities.  Farms may either be a Category 2 or Category 3 depending on whether food is packed and labeled or whether it is just held. 

 

• Hazard Analysis
• Food Safety Plan - including description of recordkeeping procedures, distribution history for tracing, storage procedures, preventative controls, hazard mitigation, etc.  
• Food Defense Plan

 

There are no category qualifiers on the Food Defense Plan (FDP) so presumably it covers all categories of facilities.  The FDP requires the facility to identify conditions and practices that may permit a hazard that may be intentionally introduced including by an act of terrorism.  This assessment includes evaluating processing security, cyber security, material security, personnel security, storage security, shipping and receiving security, and utility security.  Below, there is a copy of the section that contains the Food Defense Plan requirements.  It's worth reading to see what the government expects from farmers (and the consultants they will have to hire to produce the report and do the electronic submission). 

 

 

My favorite section in this legislation is the Access to Records section.  It doesn't appear to apply to farmers - YET but the M.O. of these writers of legislation is that they work it like a puzzle - the frame first and then filling in the pieces section by section.  The chilling part of it is the mandatory remote government access to the computer system of a private business.  Also, as a consumer of processed foods, item (B) is unnerving because you have to know that when they read the report, it will count as an inspection - rodent hairs and filth in the food notwithstanding.  Just be good at the paperwork and you'll slide under the radar if you are a "chosen one" - a member of club - authorized to own a business.  

 

SEC. 106. ACCESS TO RECORDS.

(a) Records Access- Subsection (a) of section 414 (21 U.S.C. 350c) is amended...

 

...

`(2) ADDITIONAL AUTHORITIES TO ACCESS RECORDS REMOTELY; SUBMISSION OF RECORDS TO THE SECRETARY-

`(A) REMOTE ACCESS IN EMERGENCIES- If the Secretary has a reasonable belief that an article of food presents a threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, the Secretary may require each person who manufactures, processes, packs, transports, distributes, receives, holds, or imports such article of food, or any article of food that the Secretary determines may be affected in a similar manner, to submit to the Secretary all records reasonably related to such article of soon as is reasonably practicable, after receiving written notice (including by notice served personally and outside normal business hours to an agent identified under subparagraph (E) or (F) of section 415(a)(2)) of such requirement.

`(B) REMOTE ACCESS TO RECORDS RELATED TO FOOD SAFETY PLANS- With respect to a facility subject to section 418 and 418A, the Secretary may require the owner, operator, or agent of such facility to submit to the Secretary, as soon as reasonably practicable after receiving written notice of such requirement, the food safety plan, supporting information relied on by the facility to select the preventive controls to include in its food safety plan, and documentation of corrective actions, if any, taken under section 418(e) within the preceding 2 years

`(C) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION- If the records required to be submitted to the Secretary under subparagraph (A) or (B) are available in electronic format, such records shall be submitted electronically unless the Secretary specifies otherwise in the notice under such subparagraph.

 

Now, combine the remote access with the next section 'Traceability of Food' and the picture emerges of a government managed network with full visibility of the supply chain for food.  Specifically, your food facility becomes a link in the government system of control.  It doesn't take a crystal ball to figure out that initially, the remote access and trace will be used only during an emergency but sometime down the road, there will be legislation that will call for an open, always on, link.     

SEC. 107. TRACEABILITY OF FOOD.  [emphasis added]
...

`(c) Tracing System for Food-

`(1) IN GENERAL- The Secretary shall by regulation establish a tracing system for food that is located in the United States or is for import into the United States.

`(2) INFORMATION GATHERING-

`(A) TRACING TECHNOLOGIES- Before issuing a proposed regulation under this subsection, the Secretary shall--

`(i) identify technologies and methodologies for tracing the distribution history of a food that are, or may be, used by members of different sectors of the food industry, including technologies and methodologies to enable each person who produces, manufactures, processes, pack, transports, or holds a food to--

`(I) maintain the full pedigree of the origin and previous distribution history of the food;

`(II) link that history with the subsequent distribution of the food;

`(III) establish and maintain a system for tracing the food that is interoperable with the systems established and maintained by other such persons; and

`(IV) use a unique identifier for each facility owned or operated by such person for such purpose, as specified under section 1011; and

`(ii) to the extent practicable, assess--

`(I) the costs and benefits associated with the adoption and use of such technologies;

`(II) the feasibility of such technologies for different sectors of the food industry; and

`(III) whether such technologies are compatible with the requirements of this subsection.

`(B) PUBLIC MEETINGS- Before issuing a proposed regulation under this subsection, the Secretary shall conduct not less than 2 public meetings in diverse geographical areas of the United States to provide persons in different regions an opportunity to provide input and information to the Secretary.

`(C) PILOT PROJECTS- Before issuing a proposed regulation under this subsection, the Secretary shall conduct 1 or more pilot projects in coordination with 1 or more sectors of the food industry to explore and evaluate tracing systems for food. The Secretary shall coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture in conducting pilot projects with respect to farms under this subsection.

And of course, a "full pedigree" in a food tracing system includes your employees - your payroll records.  But actually, this is not really a new requirement, it's just the incremental implementation of yet another government enterprise system, "The National Human Resource Development (Management) System". 

`(3) REGULATION-

`(A) IN GENERAL- Taking into account information obtained through information gathering under paragraph (2), the Secretary shall issue regulations establishing a tracing system that enables the Secretary to identify each person who grows, produces, manufactures, processes, packs, transports, holds, or sells such food in as short a timeframe as practicable but no longer than 2 business days.

`(B) SCOPE OF REGULATION- The Secretary may include in the regulations establishing a tracing system--

`(i) the establishment and maintenance of lot numbers;

`(ii) a standardized format for pedigree information; and

`(iii) the use of a common nomenclature for food.

`(C) COORDINATION REGARDING FARM IMPACT- In issuing regulations under this paragraph that will impact farms, the Secretary--

`(i) shall coordinate with the Secretary of Agriculture; and

`(ii) take into account the nature of the impact of the regulations on farms.

[ Both of which mean exactly nothing ]

 

Importers

The section on food importers requires that foreign facilities be registered, "certified and accredited" - which is really nothing more than a shallow cya exercise.  It sets an indicator on the database in the registration section but it is only as meaningful as the quality of certification agency and the honesty of the auditor.  The following are just a few noteworthy excerpts from the section on importers.

"In issuing these regulations, the Secretary may rely on or incorporate international certification standards".

(6) ELECTRONIC SUBMISSION- The Secretary shall provide in coordination with the Commissioner responsible for Customs and Border Protection, for the electronic submission of certifications under this section.  (Trusted Shipper)

[Note:  Sec. 112 does not appear to be limited to importers and exporters.  It includes all registrants in the Food Safety Program.]  

SEC. 112 REPORTABLE FOOD REGISTRY; EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION

`(4) In carrying out this Act, the Secretary may provide any information relating to food that is exempt from disclosure pursuant to section 552 (a) of title 5, United States Code, by reason of subsection (b)(4) of such section, or that is referred to in section 301(j)--

`(A) to any foreign government agency; or

`(B) any international organization established by law, treaty, or other governmental action and having responsibility--

`(i) to facilitate global or regional harmonization of standards and requirements in an area of responsibility of the Food and Drug Administration; or

`(ii) to promote and coordinate public health efforts, if the agency or organization provides adequate assurances to the Secretary that the agency or organization will preserve the confidentiality of the information.

 

Usurpation of States Rights

This section is very disturbing because they are attempting to exceed their constitutional boundaries of regulating INTERSTATE commerce by specifically legislating the authority to restrict the movement of food products WITHIN state boundaries.  One can see how this section could be used to force farmers into the supply chain in case they try to avoid being a sharecropper for the government by doing business only within state boundaries.  If the government gets away with this, it will be the precedent they will use to require RFID chips on animals not intended for interstate commerce and to control food sales from farms within a state. 

SEC. 133. AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT OR RESTRICT THE MOVEMENT OF FOOD.

(a) Prohibited Act- Section 301 (21 U.S.C. 331), as amended by sections 110 and 111, is amended by adding at the end by adding the following:

`(ww) The violation of a prohibition or restriction under section 304(i).'.

(b) In General- Section 304 (21 U.S.C. 334) is amended by adding at the end the following:

`(i) Authority to Prohibit or Restrict the Movement of Food Within a State or Portion of a State-

`(1) AUTHORITY TO PROHIBIT OR RESTRICT THE MOVEMENT OF FOOD-

`(A) IN GENERAL-

`(i) After consultation with the Governor or other appropriate official of an affected State, if the Secretary determines that there is credible evidence that an article of food presents an imminent threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, the Secretary may prohibit or restrict the movement of an article of food within a State or
portion of a State for which the Secretary has credible evidence that such food is located within, or originated from, such State or portion thereof.

`(ii) In carrying out clause (i), the Secretary may prohibit or restrict the movement within a State or portion of a State of any article of food or means of conveyance of such article of food, if the Secretary determines that the prohibition or restriction is a necessary protection from an imminent threat of serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals.

______________________________________________________________
 8 2 09 12:30 America Armed & Free

Warren Kozak

 

LEMAY: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay

by Warren Kozak

Regnery Publishing, Inc.; ISBN: 1596985690

Hardcover - 354 pages (May 2009)

 

General Curtis LeMay: Villain or Hero?

 

The firebombing of Tokyo. Strategic Air Command. Dr. Strangelove.
George Wallace. All of these have one person in common: General
Curtis LeMay?the most misunderstood military man in 20th century history.

Until now.

In his brand-new book, LEMAY: The Life and Wars of General Curtis LeMay, military biographer
Warren Kozak traces the trajectory of America's most innovative?and vilified?military commander.

 

General Curtis LeMay is perhaps the most infamous general of the 20th century. Despite playing
a major role in many important military events of the last century?from defeating Japan without
a costly land invasion to being on the Joint Chiefs during the Cuban Missile Crisis?historians
have been content to paint LeMay as a crude, trigger-happy, cigar-chomping general who joined
political forces with one of the most famous racists in American history, George Wallace.

 

However, in LEMAY, Kozak reveals the LeMay that only those close to him knew?a commander
who was gruff yet compassionate, brilliant, and accomplished. In LEMAY, you'll learn:

• How LeMay devised the plan to use incendiary bombs over Japan that killed hundreds
  of thousands but saved millions from an impending ground invasion
• How he turned the Strategic Air Command from a dismal failure into the deadliest fighting
  force in history
• Who really came up with the idea of bombing the North Vietnamese back into "the Stone
  Age"
• Why LeMay agreed to be George Wallace's running mate in the election of 1968?despite
  loathing Wallace and most of his policies

Giving an unprecedented glimpse into the might and mind of perhaps the most controversial
general in our nation's history, Kozak shows why today, more than ever, America needs
another man like Curtis LeMay.

7 26 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Roger Hedgecock

http://www.unfairair.org/

The Obamunist in chief's FCC director has a new plan in the

Works for "behaviorial rules" for broadcasters.

7 26 09 12:30 PM Liberty Watch

Charles on the meaning of the current national health care bill.
See below, from: http://blog.flecksoflife.com/

7 26 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Chris Knox, editor of

"Neal Knox & The Gun Rights War"
_____________________________________

7 19 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Dr. Steven Knope, MD

"What Obama Care will do to private pracrice"

7 19 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Dr. William Forstchen

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0765317583/?tag=googhydr-20&hvadid
=3505468557&ref=pd_sl_1865qjokmf_e

From Publishers Weekly
In this entertaining apocalyptic thriller from Forstchen (We Look Like Men of War), a high-altitude nuclear
bomb of uncertain origin explodes, unleashing a deadly electromagnetic pulse that instantly disables almost
every electrical device in the U.S. and elsewhere in the world. Airplanes, most cars, cellphones, refrigerators
?all are fried as the country plunges into literal and metaphoric darkness. History professor John Matherson,
who lives with his two daughters in a small North Carolina town, soon figures out what has happened. Aided
by local officials, Matherson begins to deal with such long-term effects of the disaster as starvation, disease
and roving gangs of barbarians. While the material sometimes threatens to veer into jingoism, and heartstrings
are tugged a little too vigorously, fans of such classics as Alas, Babylon and On the Beachwill have a good
time as Forstchen tackles the obvious and some not-so-obvious questions the apocalypse tends to raise.
Newt Gingrich provides a foreword. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

7 12 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Mark Ogram, http://www.babelsecure.com/

7 12 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Lt. Col. Dean Ladd, USMC (Ret.)

Steve Weingartner, author

 

Product Description
Faithful Warriors is a memoir of World War II in the Pacific by Lt. Col. Dean Ladd, USMC (Ret.),
a combat veteran of the 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. Written with award-winning
author Steven Weingartner, Col. Ladd s book chronicles his experiences as a junior officer in
some of the fiercest fighting of the war, during the amphibious invasions of Guadalcanal, Tarawa,
Saipan, and Tinian. Ladd's recollections and descriptions of life--and death--on the far-flung battle
fronts of the Pacific War are vividly rendered, and augmented by the personal recollections of many
of the men who served with and under him in his wartime journey across the Pacific.Dean Ladd
grew up in the Marine Corps; and the Marine Corps grew up in World War II. Faithful Warriors
tells the story of how both came of age in history s greatest conflict. The book presents Ladd's
journey through eventful times and extraordinary circumstances: prewar training outside San
Diego; awaiting attack on Samoa after the attack on Pearl Harbor; surviving Guadalcanal; rest
and recuperation in New Zealand; savage fighting and terrible suffering on Tarawa; recovery in
Hawaii; more fighting on Saipan and Tinian This vividly written memoir will stir the memories of
those who lived during these trying times and will help future generations of readers to
understand the realities of the Pacific War.

About the Author
Lt. Col. Dean Ladd, USMCR (Ret.), saw combat in the Pacific as a junior officer in the U.S. Marine
Corps and served in the Marine Corps Reserve after the war, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel
in 1960. In all, he served thirty years in the Corps. A resident of Spokane, WA, he remains active in
several veterans groups.

Steven Weingartner, a historian and writer specializing in military history
and military affairs, is the recipient of the 1998 Carl Sandburg Award for Nonfiction. He lives in La
Grange Park, IL, where he contributes articles to magazines and journals and serves as a
consultant and commentator for the History Channel.

7 5 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Bob Basso

Bob Basso is an American actor, writer, motivational speaker and entertainer whose outrageous
antics working as a news and sports anchor in Hawaii included delivering the news while standing
atop a pile of manure and reporting on the Hawaiian islands first nude beach while in the buff.
Starbulletin.com: Basso busy as motivational speaker (January 7, 2008) In March of 2009, his
portrayal of Common Sense writer Thomas Paine became a viral sensation on YouTube,
receiving over three million hits.Zimbio:
Bob Basso - YouTube's Thomas Paine calls for 'Second American Revolution'

7 5 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Bob Pardo

Pardo's Push
Story by John L. Frisbee

Uncommon courage, Ingenuity, and skill were
combined in a unique experience of the Vietnam War.

There are pilots who fly fighters, and there are fighter pilots. Retired Lt. Col.Bob Pardo is
one of the latter. When he's not flying corporate jets in Colorado, he's doing aerobatics in
single-engine planes with fighter pilot friends.
Of the 132 missions he flew in Vietnam with the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing, the most memorable
is that of March 10, 1967, when he and his weapon system officer, Lt. Steve Wayne, went
against steel mills near Hanoi. In their flight was Capt. Earl Aman and his "Guy in Back,"
Lt. Bob Houghton. The Hanoi area was the most heavily defended in the history of air
warfare, and on that day enemy ground fire was the heaviest Captain Pardo had seen
in his many trips downtown
.
Before they reached the target, Captain Aman's  F-4 was hit, but he was able to stay
with the formation. As they were rolling in on the target, antiaircraft gunners found Aman
again. His aircraft began to leak fuel rapidly. Pardo also was hit but was able to continue
with the strike, though his F-4, too, was leaking fuel. By the time they were above 20,000
feet on their way out, it was obvious that Aman did not have enough fuel to reach Laos,
where he and Houghton could bail out with a reasonable chance of being rescued. If they
punched out over North Vietnam, they were almost certain to be captured and either killed
or sent to reserved accommodations at the Hanoi Hilton .

Bob Pardo, on the other hand, probably had enough fuel, with careful management, to reach
a tanker, leaving Aman and Houghton to an uncertain fate. That was not Pardo's way. "How
can you fly off and leave someone you just fought a battle with?" asks Pardo. "The thought
never occurred to me." He would stay as long as Aman's fuel lasted, then think of some
way to get the two men to safety. Pardo didn't have long to think about it. While they were
still over North Vietnam, Aman flamed out. What to do now? Desperate situations demand
desperate measures. Pardo decided to do something that, to his knowledge, had not been
done before. He would push Aman's F-4 to Laos. (In 1952, during the Korean War while
Pardo was still in high school, fighter ace Robbie Risner had pushed his wingman out of
North Korea in an F-86. Pilots then were ordered to refrain from attempting the hazardous
act again, and the event, which Risner hardly ever mentioned, faded from memory.)

With delicate touch, Pardo brought the nose of his damaged aircraft into contact with Aman's
F-4, now plunging toward the Laotian jungle at 250 knots. He soon found that the pointed nose
of an F-4 was not designed for pushing anything more solid than air. After several failed attempts,
Bob Pardo came up with a brilliantidea. He told Aman to drop his tailhook. He then maneuvered
his windscreen against the tailhook. It worked, but about every thirty seconds Pardo would lose
contact because of turbulence, then back off and come in again. It was an extraordinary job of
flying. Aman's rate of descent was reduced to 1,500 feet per minute.

Their problems were not over. Pardo's left engine caught fire. He shut it down, then restarted it,
and again it caught fire. Never mind that. He would be at zero fuel in ten minutes anyway. It
was time for everyone to hit the silk. Aman and Houghton bailed out at 6,000 feet, followed
shortly by Wayne and Pardo. Once on the ground, Aman and Houghton were pursued by the
enemy but managed to elude them. All four men were picked up by rescue helicopters,Pardo,
who bailed out last, was rescued forty-five minutes after the others, and returned to their base
at Ubon RTAB, Thailand.

Bob Pardo was an instant hero to the other pilots but not to some higher echelon accountants,
who threatened to bring charges against him for losing an expensive airplane. Good judgment
prevailed, and the charges were dropped. Two decades later, he and Steve Wayne each were
awarded the Silver Star for what came to be known as Pardo's Push, immortalized in a striking
painting by aviation artist Steve Ferguson.

Stolen from AIR FORCE Magazine / October 1996

Footnote: The aircraft involved were F-4Ds 63-7653 and 64-0839.

6 21 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Dr. Tom Patterson, Chairman, Goldwater Institute

Is national health care a good idea?

6 14 09 12:30 PM Liberty Watch

Tom Mortson, retired GM engineer

What wickedness has the government wrought through GM,
and ws it the unions who killed it?

1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Pat Stevenson, owner of "Gunsite Pass" gun shop
and firearms training company.

20 years of special forces - what can it do for firearms
training?

6 14 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Dr. Michael Coffman of Soverignty International

http://www.globalwarmingclassroom.info/ 

Congress Is Considering Cap and Trade Legislation That Will Cost Every American Family $3000 a year. Yet, Emerging Science Clearly Shows It is not needed! This Video Explains Why.
Click on specific paper to link to article Al Gore's DVD Inconvenient Truth is being shown in nearly every school in America. Although well produced, it has so full of errors and is so alarmist, that the British High Court ruled in 2007 that it could not be shown in British public schools without a disclaimer that it is a political, not a documentary film. Yet, it continues to be shown in American and Canadian public schools for lack of a DVD that presents what science is really showing. Global Warming, Emerging Science and Understanding is that DVD.	Emerging science is providing important new under- standing on this issue. Yet, politics is preventing this information from getting to Congress and the American people. Worse, our children are being taught incorrect information in our schools. Global Warming, Emerging Science and Under-standing brings balance and perspective to the global warming debate. Dozens of respected scientists from all over the world explain new and emerging science about global warming. This DVD and its accompanying resources provides a clear and refreshing under-standing for ages 12 and up of this important issue. It can be viewed in the middle/high school classroom or any adult wanting to understand what emerging science is revealing. You will learn that: The earth may be in a cooling cycle, not warming. A corrected NASA data error shows the 1930s- 1940s are the warmest period in the past 100 yrs in the US, not the 1990s and 2000s. The "fingerprint" of greenhouse gas warming used in climate models does not match reality. Why greenhouse warming cannot, and has not caused more severe storms and hurricanes. The sun may be the primary driver of warming. More CO2 is very beneficial to the earth, including people. And much, much more.

__________________________________________________________

6 14 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Tom Gaylord, airgun editor of Shotgun News

http://www.airgunwriter.com/

6 14 09 1:30 PM America Armed & Free

Robert Gordon, Heritage foundation

6 7 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

A New Charter for American Cities: 10 Rights to Restrain Government
  and Protect Freedom

Nick Dranias

Goldwater Institute Policy Report
March 11, 2009
http://www.goldwaterinstitute.org/Common/Img/031109%20Local%20Liberty%20Charter.pdf

6 7 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Nat Stevens   http://www.tuffproducts.com/

877-883-3776

6 7 09 1:30 PM America Armed & Free

Jay Trincus

PROPOSED BILL: CYBERSECURITY ACT OF 2009 (SB773)

By John 'J' Trinckes
May 23, 2009
NewsWithViews.com

How the President of the United States Can Control the Internet

As if the government doesn't control enough in our lives, a new bill was introduced
in the Senate on April 1, 2009 that basically gives full control of the Internet to the
President of the United States. As of this writing, the bill is currently in the
Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee.

The bill, as proposed, is short titled "Cybersecurity Act of 2009"
(Click here for full text), and it's purpose is:

"to ensure the continued free flow of commerce within the United States and
with its global trading partners through secure cyber communications, to
provide for the continued development and exploitation of the Internet and
intranet communications for such purposes, to provide for the development
of a cadre of information technology specialists to improve and maintain
effective cyber security defenses against disruption, and for other purposes."

I don't know about you, but I always get nervous with an open ending statement
of ?for other purposes'. So let's take a look at this proposal and break down
the real intent of this bill, shall we?

The act designates a Cybersecurity Advisory Panel to the President. Although
I may not totally disagree with this endeavor and feel that the President needs
to be educated as much as possible on security threats especially when it
comes from Cyberspace, I'm not that convinced that there will be real experts
in the field on the panel, but rather, another way for the government to ?throw
bones' out to their friends and family members.

The act continues with the development of a real-time cybersecurity dashboard
under the responsibility of the Secretary of Commerce. As a security expert
working in the field, I've never before seen the Secretary of Commerce deal
with cybersecurity related items. Most of the time, security is synonymous
with Department of Homeland Security or the National Security Agency.
Other executive departments (FBI, CIA, etc.) normally have responsibility
over their own security matters. Besides this, there is already a National
Vulnerability Database in place to track cybersecurity related threats.

No act would be complete without the government spending more money.
This one is no different. The Cybersecurity Act of 2009 will create and
support Cybersecurity Centers (again, ran by the Secretary of Commerce).
"The purpose of the Centers is to enhance the cybersecurity of small and
medium sized businesses in [the] United States through:" transfer of
cybersecurity knowledge; participation from industry, university, state
governments, federal agencies, and the National Institute of Science and
Technology (NIST); efforts to make cybersecurity software/hardware usable
by small- and medium-sized business; active dissemination of information,
utilization of federal laboratories; and make short term loans to small
businesses (defined as a business having less than 100 employees) for
advanced cybersecurity countermeasures.

The act designates financial support not to exceed 50% of annual operating/

maintenance cots for non-profit organization(s). I'm not sure where the
funding for the other 50% is going to come from to support these centers.
I'm assuming, which I hate to do, that it would come from donations and
the interest earned from the short  term loans? There is going to have to
be some basis for revenue to continue operation of these centers in order
for them to survive and accomplish their goals. (I guess they could always
ask for a bail-out if they don't succeed.)

Of course we will need standards and the act will require critical infrastructure
systems to follow the NST standards. To make sure that departments (or
companies) handling critical infrastructure systems comply with these
standards, the Director of NIST shall -

"enforce compliance with the standards developed by the Institute under
this section by software manufacturers, distributors, and vendors, and shall
require each Federal agency, and each operator of an information system
or network designated by the President as a critical infrastructure information
system or network, periodically to demonstrate compliance with the standards
established under this section."

I have a couple of issues here. First, I'm not sure what periodically means. Is
this annually? semi-annually? bi-annually? I hate laws that are vague and
allow for interpretation. If the government wants compliance, it should be
specific in when it wants it. Second, I'm not sure what type of enforcement
authority the Director will have. Will he/she issue fines or other penalties to
force compliance?

Section 7 will have a direct effect on me and my livelihood. This section
introduces licensing and certification requirements for cybersecurity
professionals. Like I don't have enough certifications, education, and real-
world experience dealing with cybersecurity matters already (see my bio
below), now I'll have to get approval from the government and pay a ?fee'
to continue to work. I'm not opposed to demonstrating my abilities and
providing credentials to my clients in an effort to ensure them that I know
what I'm talking about when it comes to information security, but now I'll
have to pay another fee to show it as well. It will be interesting to see what
type of licensing, certification, and periodic recertification program will be r
equired since it is left up to the Secretary of Commerce to develop and
coordinate. (Do doctors and lawyers have a national licensing?) Further-
more, since cybersecurity services and critical infrastructure information
systems are not specifically defined in the act (which we will discuss in
a moment) it will be interesting to see how this all works out.

In addition, the act doesn't specify if violating these requirements will be
a misdemeanor or felony and doesn't list any sanctions like imprisonment
or fines. Maybe it will fall under practicing cybersecurity related activity
without a license? And then what will be defined as cybersecurity related
activity in the scope of this new act? As a point of reference, the common
acceptable definition of cybersecurity is "measures taken to protect a
computer or computer system (as on the Internet) against unauthorized
access or attack." Source: Merriam-Webster.com

Another definition of cybersecurity is "the protection of data and systems
in networks that are connected to the internet. See information security."
Source: Pcmag.com

So if you are installing or updating your anti-virus software, I guess you
could be found guilty of practicing cybersecurity related activity without
a license.

In Section 14, we find the act establishes a public-private clearinghouse
under the Department of Commerce. (Again, why we are seeing so much
of these security related items under Commerce is beyond me.). This one
shall surely get you, "The Secretary of Commerce -- shCommentsClose
CommentsPermalinkall have access to all relevant data concerning such
networks without regard to any provision of law, regulation, rule, or policy
restricting such access." Say what? Without regards. to any provision of
law . any relevant data. (Of course, relevant data is again, not defined here.)
I thought this country was built on laws?

CommentsClose CommentsPermalink

This brings us to the main point of this article. The act does not specifically
define critical infrastructure systems, safe it to say, that the President (or his
designee) can define them in any form he wants. If he goes by a previous
Presidential Decision Directive 63 (PDD-63), critical infrastructure systems
are those systems that are crucial for survival. The critical infrastructure of
the U.S. is telecommunications, energy, banking and finance, transportation,
water systems and emergency services, among others. (source click here)

*PDD-63 (Presidential Decision Directive-63) An order by President Clinton
on May 22, 1998 to define U.S. federal government policies on critical infra-
structure protection. PDD-63 is the foundation document for the creation of
the National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC), the United States Com-
puter Emergency Readiness Team (US-CERT) and other organizations
devoted to protecting the nation's crucial industrial and financial base. For
more information, visit here. See critical infrastructure.

There is reference to what constitutes a critical infrastructure information
system and network from a quote supplied as a basis for the act.

"According to the February 2003 National Strategy to Secure Cyberspace,
?our nation's critical infrastructures are composed of public and private
institutions in the sectors of agriculture, food, water, public health, emergency
services, government, defense industrial base, information and telec-
ommunications, energy, transportation, banking finance, chemicals and
hazardous materials, and postal and shipping. Cyberspace is their nervous
system--the control system of our country' and that ?the cornerstone of
America's cyberspace security strategy is and will remain a public-private
partnership.'"

This pretty much covers everything, but if the President (or his designee)
expands the definition, it could include any and all systems connected in
some form or fashion to the Internet.

Here is the kicker. Section 18 of the act provides the President the authority
to "declare a cybersecurity emergency and order the limitation or shutdown
of Internet traffic to and from any compromised Federal government or United
States critical infrastructure information system or network." It further contends
that the President can "order the disconnection of any Federal government or
United States critical infrastructure information systems or networks in the
interest of national security." Unfortunately, the act does not define what
constitutes a cybersecurity emergency. In addition, the part about national
security is also rather vague.

So, ladies and gentlemen, how does the President of the United States control
the Internet? Just have the Cybersecurity Act of 2009 pass as written.

"This is just one of those reasons why I hate stupid people."

© 2009 John 'J' Trinckes - All Rights Reserve

John 'J' Trinckes, Jr. (CISSP, CISM, CEH, NSA-IAM/IEM, MCSE-NT, A+)

John ("Jay") is a Senior Information Security Consultant and former law enforcement
officer.

Jay is te author of a new book, "The Executive MBA in Information Security",
 published by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, An Aurbach Book, due
out in October, 2009. Jay holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Admin-
istration/Management Information Systems from the Union Institute and
University and has been a member of numerous security industry associ-
ations such as the FBI's InfraGard®, Information Systems Security
Association (ISSA), International Association of Technology Professionals
(IATP), Information Systems Audit and Controls Association (ISACA ®),
and the International Information Systems Security Certification Consort-
ium (ISC2). When Jay isn't working, he likes to spend his spare time with
his family and friends.

E-Mail: hitechpo@windstream.net

5 31 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

COLUMBINE 10 YEARS LATER .WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED?

April 20 Marks Ten Years Since the Debacle at Columbine
What Have We Learned?
Are Our Schools Safer?
Why or Why Not?

The event we now call Columbine is seared in our memories.  While the names of
the boys who killed and injured so many may fade, the horror of the event has led
to a half-generation of fear - fear that our children will fall prey to the kind of events
that took place that day, no matter how safe their schools may seem.

What have we learned from Columbine?  Are our schools any safer today? 
Have we put any truly effective programs in place?

Bullying expert Joe Wojcik talks not only about what we have learned, but also
about what we have not taken into account.  Speaking to educators, parents,
and kids in schools throughout the country with his Say No To Bullying program,
Joe is at the forefront of those working to prevent implosions like we saw at
Columbine from taking place again.

In an informative, provocative, and engaging interview, Joe will talk about five
things we have learned and six we have yet to work on.

In an informative, provocative, and engaging interview, Joe will talk about five things
we have learned and six we have yet to work on as well as the politics behind tying
the hands of teachers.

Ten ye

5 31 09 12:30 PM Liberty Watch

John R. Mankins - "Solar Power From Space"

5 24 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Scott Silverman

"Tell Me No. I Dare You!" is the book to read if you believe in change. Scott H. Silverman's
combinations of laugh out loud and heartfelt stories deliver a message of hope and possibility.
A book for our time as we yearn to say, "Yes we can!"
Mr. Silverman turned a life of destruction into a life of creation and contribution using a simple,
yet profound set of self discovered Keys to Success. Part memoir, part how to, 100%
inspiration. Join the movement of those who dare to say, "Tell Me No. I Dare You!"

5 31 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Benson Bobrick

5 24 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Eric Shelton "1911 vs. Glock - What's In YOUR Holster?"

Eric, of the Handgun Podcast, returns to co-host with Charles.
Word is, they may put a few test round into the sand bucket in studio.

30 years old.

Blessed to have both parents still married, and raised in a "Leave it  to Beaver" 
home.

Learned to shoot in the Boy Scouts.

Joined the Air Force 3 days after 18th birthday, 1996.  Honorable  discharge in 
2003.

Qualified as Marksman with M-16 while enlisted.

Spent 3 years in England with the Air Force, and came away glad we don't have 
National Health Care.

Took Concealed Weapon permit classes and got CCW soon after leaving  the Air 
Force. 

Self-financed and recorded a Christian, acoustic guitar based album under 
pseudonym A Floating Axehead. 

Life Member of NRA

Host of Handgun Podcast

Joined the Air National Guard in June 2008.

Drinks way too much coffee for any mortal man.

Can still beat Mike Tyson in the NES Punch-Out game.

5 17 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

David Ridenour, Vice-President, National Center for Public
 Policy Research

  Obama's selection of Carol Browner as climate control czar ...
   http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/mar/30/no-time-for-zealots/

5 17 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

The coming legislative fight in the U.S. Senate over regulating the private
sale of firearms.

5 17 09 1:30 PM America Armed & Free

Kathy McDonald is the leading consultant and political strategist in SW Washington. 
She began her career 15 years ago with hands-on experience as a grassroots activist
focusing on educational and property rights issues.  Her commitment to building strong
diverse coalitions within the community and throughout the state led her to positions
of increasing responsibility in campaign after campaign, resulting significant wins in
both issue-based and candidate campaigns. 

From National Water & Conservation Alliance
www.nationalwaterconservation.org  
Senate Environment & Public Works Committee
Expected to Act Soon on Clean Water Restoration Act (S. 787)
Mark-Up Scheduled for Wednesday, May 20th!

(A mark-up is a long comprehensive meeting designed to approve the bill. 
The committee will dissect the bill line by line.  They can amend the bill,
make changes and then vote on the bill.)
***National Water & Conservation Alliance Established to Help Defeat Bill***
Our Washington DC insiders are telling us that the Environment & Public Works
Committee is marking up this bill Wednesday, May 20!

This bill will profoundly impact every citizen &
community in the country--your immediate attention
and action is needed!  Please do the following: 

*** 1.  Bombard the EPW office with phone calls and tell them to
postpone action  on the bill (202) 224-8832 ***   

      2.  Contact both of your Senators and ask that they request a
 hearing on the bill before any action is taken. You can call any
Senator at 202-224-3121.

     3.  Contact your legislator and local elected officials and ask
them to make a similar request.  Ask that the elected body that

they serve on pass a resolution immediately. 

     4.  Get organizations in your area to pass a resolution and to
support the attached petition in support of grassroots alternatives
to federal legislation.

     5.  Help support our efforts to defeat the bill.

     6.  Forward this message to people in your network.

______________________ 

Washington, D.C. __ Regarded as perhaps the biggest federal power grab in
the nation's history, the much anticipated Oberstar-Feingold Clean Water
Restoration Act, bogged down last year in controversy and election year
politics, could see action soon in a key Senate Committee.  S. 787,
introduced by Wisconsin Senator Russ Feingold, with 23 co-sponsors,
could see committee action as early as May 20th.  One of the co-sponsors
is Sen. Barbara Boxer of California, who chairs the Senate Committee on
Environment & Public Works, the committee with sole jurisdiction of the
bill in the Senate.

The chief author in the House is Minnesota Congressman James Oberstar. 
Oberstar chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which has
sole jurisdiction of the legislation in the House.  This is purported to be a
'legacy' bill for Oberstar, and although there is little support for the bill in
his own district, he has made it a top priority for his Committee, and is 
expected to introduce a bill in the House soon. 

As Reed Hopper, lead attorney in a 2006 landmark Supreme Court decision
stated in testimony, ".....this bill pushes the limits of federal power to an
extreme not matched by any other law, probably in the history of this country."
 
Hopper wasn't exaggerating.  This bill expands federal power in two ways:
 
     1) By removing the limiting term 'navigable' from the 1972 Federal Water
Pollution Control Act and replacing it with the all inclusive 'waters of the U.S.'
(including wetlands, intermittent streams, playa lakes, prairie potholes,
sandflats, mudflats, ponds, meadows and sloughs).
 
     2) By adding the new language 'activities affecting these waters,' which
refers to land use activity as well as atmospheric deposition.  As Oberstar
has often stated, "water flows downhill."  That is to say that the bill is about
federal control of entire watersheds, and everything is in a watershed--all
water, all land, all people, all communities. 
 
In short, this bill is not about clean water.  It's about governance.  Its aim
is top-down, command and control of land, water, people and communities. 
It should be viewed as perhaps the greatest threat ever to liberty, property,
jobs, energy independence, and access to and use and enjoyment of public
lands and waters.  In the words of Jim Burling, senior attorney with the Pacific
Legal Foundation, "If our constitutional system of limited federal powers
means anything, we have to win on this issue."
 
The bill would overturn two U.S. Supreme Court decisions (SWANCC--2001
and Rapanos--2006) which ruled that the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had exceeded their authority
under the 1972 Federal Water Pollution Control Act.  Cleverly and deceptively
titled the Clean Water Restoration Act, the only thing the Oberstar-Feingold
bill restores, and legalizes, is the abuse of the individual rights of American
citizens, and the continued expansion of federal control over every aspect
of American life. 
 
In case you think we're overstating the case, a 2006 report prepared by
Oberstar's Transportation and Infrastructure Committee staff leaves no
doubt as to what this legislation is about.  The report emphasizes that
control of non-point sources is the unfinished agenda of the Clean Water
Act.

The simple definition of a non-point source is 'anything that doesn't come
out of a pipe.'  This would include agriculture, forestry, mining, energy 
development, home-building and other property improvement, as well as
recreational uses of public lands and waters.  It would include activities
such as mowing your lawn, planting a garden, or building, maintaining,
or using a recreational trail--virtually any human activity you can imagine. 
As Ali Cambel, professor of Environmental Studies at George Washington
University warned over 30 years ago, "Wait until they get around to
controlling non-point sources of water pollution."
 
The bill is not about pollution, it's about power.  It is being supported by
every national environmental organization in the country as a means of
maintaining and expanding their power base in Washington.  Many of
these groups don't just have office space in Washington--they own
buildings!  There are no checks and balances, and little oversight.  
This is purely and simply a redistribution of power and authority,
removing it from American citizens and communities and their local
elected officials, and transferring it to a massive federal bureaucracy. 
That is why organizations such as the National Association of Counties 
are so strongly opposed to the legislation.

Of course, there are some who will benefit.  If passed, it will be a full-
employment act for environmental activists and attorneys, already a major
growth-industry in America.  There will be endless litigation, as every acre
of land and water in the country is up for dispute as to whether a human
activity should be allowed.  

This legislation could move very quickly, so you must act now!  
 
Here's the full makeup of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee:  

Senate Majority Committee Members

Democrats:                                     

Barbara Boxer  (Chairman)
Max Baucus  
Thomas R. Carper  
Frank R. Lautenberg  
Benjamin L. Cardin  
Bernard Sanders  
Amy Klobuchar  
Sheldon Whitehouse  
Tom Udall  
Jeff Merkley  
Kirsten Gillibrand  
Arlen Specter  

Republicans: 

James M. Inhofe (Ranking Member)
George V. Voinovich
David Vitter
John Barrasso
Mike Crapo
Christopher S. Bond
Lamar Alexander

Call your Senators even if they are not on the EPW Committee.  You can call
any Senator at (202) 224-3121. 
 
This bill must be defeated, so please act now!  There's a better way to achieve
water quality objectives--a way that allows for every citizen to participate in
solutions to environmental problems--solutions that are better, faster and
cheaper!  This approach has been tried successfully in many parts of the
country.  It works.  And it can not only lead to common sense solutions
to problems, it can help restore trust in government.  The choice is very
simple:  Do you want more top-down, one-size-fits-all, command and
control government from Washington, or responsible, bottoms-up,
common sense government from average citizens and local communities?    
 
Please take the time to get organizations to support the petition below
by resolution and have them return it to us as soon as possible. 
*Petition in Support of Grassroots Alternatives*

The undersigned hereby supports local and regional alternatives to
the proposed federal Clean Water Restoration Act, in order to achieve
water quality objectives that reflect broad, popular support among
people and communities most directly affected by environmental
policies and regulations. 

Name                            Organization                Address/Contact Information

_____________         _______________      ________________________________

 
We need your support!  Please help us with a donation.  We are truly
a grassroots organization taking on the multi-billion dollar industry known
as environmentalism.   Send a contribution of $1000, $500, $250, $100,
$50, $20, or whatever you can afford.  You may donate on line by going
to our new website at www.nationalwaterconservation.org, or you can
send it via mail to:
National Water & Conservation Alliance
P.O. Box 65246
Vancouver, WA  98665-0009

Make sure to Call, Fax, and Email requesting a hearing on this bill before
May 20^th. 

We are dedicated to winning this battle, and we sincerely appreciate
your support!
 
 
Don Parmeter                                               Kathy McDonald
Co-Chair                                                       Co-Chair
St. Paul, Minnesota                                      Vancouver, Washington
don@nationalwaterconservation.org                kathy@nationalwaterconservation.org  

5 10 09 12:00 Liberty Watch

Robert J. Smith
Senior Fellow for Environmental Policy at the National Center for Public
Policy Research

http://cei.org/gencon/023%2C02128.cfm

5 10 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Tom Gunn

"Gunn Sights"

5.0 out of 5 stars How-to book on leadership, team-building, salesmanship, and Business Process Reengineering, November 20, 2008 By  J. Rudy "Major, USAF" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews  Tom Gunn provides the insider's perspective of the business of international aerospace industry. It's part memoir and part how-to-guide, but it's an overall great book. McDonnell Douglas learned a hard lesson when the YF-23 lost out to the YF-22. Rather than lick their wounds, the company looked at the reason "why" they lost the competition. The result was a "New Business Activity", which Gunn superbly summarizes into a 12 step process that forces companies to focus on selling the customer what they need, not what products you have available. Gunn writes a chapter on motivating people, providing insights into leadership and team building, again providing his perspectives. Separating Gunn's work with other "team building" books, his perspective doesn't stop at the front door. He provides real life case studies of partnering both with the Department of Defense, and international partners. Ever think you'd eat goat or camel, Gunn speaks to the importance of the old adage "When in Rome, do as the Romans do." The most important lesson of this chapter is that the sale isn't complete after the award has been announced. Gunn constantly reinforces simple concepts such as knowing the customer's most- important requirements, and identifying who the real decision maker is. He also reviews the Request for Proposal (RFP) process within the Department of Defense (DOD). Gunn again supports his opinions with case studies, by discussing the benefits of com- munications between corporations and the DOD with the release of the draft RFP. For readers looking for the international business dealings, Gunn discusses the topic of offsets. "Offsets" are economic incentives such as using local industries to produce parts for the weapon systems your company sells them. He also discusses the most important concept of salesmanship - connecting with the customer. Using the fly-off of the F-14 vs. the F-15, he discusses how a technologically superior product lost the sale because of a failure to connect with the customer. This is a great book offering a little bit of something for multiple audiences. Readers looking for case studies in Business Process Re-engineering, it's in there. Foreign sales, it's in there. Leadership & team building, it's in there. How corporate America views the DOD as a customer, it's in there. This book needs to be in the library of DOD acquisition professionals, so that we can better understand how to better partner with business to get the best value in our acquisition programs. Of note, the Naval Institute Press offers another book Testing Death: Hughes Aircraft Test Pilots and Cold War Weaponry (Ausa) by George Marrett that looks at some of the same case studies from the Hughes Aviation perspective.

5 3 09 12:00 Liberty Watch

Joe Rollings, of http://www.thingswestern.com/

Can you make a living with your hands as an artisan? Tune in and find out!

5 3 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Clint & Heidi Smith of Thunder Ranch

Since 1993, Thunder Ranch has trained students in the defensive use of all types
of firearms, and at all skill levels. They also produce excellent training videos. Clint
is known in the trade for his "Clintisms," such as "if you look like food, you will be
eaten."

3 29 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Thomas Mullen

"Returning to Common Sense"

5.0 out of 5 stars Peter Schiff Recommends A Return to Common Sense!, March 15, 2009 By  Thomas J. Mullen "Thomas Mullen" (Tampa, FL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    A well written primer on economics, liberty, and government that even avid Austrians will enjoy. If you have been blinded by government and Wall Street propaganda, "A Return to Common Sense" will help open your eyes. I not only recommend that you add this book to your freedom library, but that you buy a few copies for your friends. - Peter Schiff, Pres. of Euro Pacific Capital, Inc and author of Crash Proof - How to Profit from the coming Economic Collapse.

3 29 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Scott Baron

Product Description
This collection of profiles in courage highlights the Sailors and Marines awarded the U.S.
Navy's highest honor for valor, the Navy Cross. It is the first book to focus on the stories
of those recognized for their heroic actions while serving in Iraq and Afghanistan--twenty-
one in all, including a Marine sergeant who received his Cross on 19 January 2007. Un-
known to most, they have been honored for putting their lives on the line to save others.
The book also includes selected profiles of Navy Cross recipients from previous wars
whose stories stand out as the best among an elite group. Coauthors James E. Wise
and Scott Baron, whose previous collaboration cited exceptional women at war, wrote
this book to call attention to those who have done extraordinary things to ensure the
freedom of future generations of Americans.

The descriptions of bravery read like the scripts of Hollywood action films, but these are
actual events about real people. Readers will be awestruck by the incredible courage
shown by the Marines and Sailors during hellish firefights against the insurgents in
Baghdad, Nasiriyah, Fallujah, Mazar-i-Sharif, and Kandahar. Yet the recipients remain
modest about their actions, saying they were merely doing their duty as would any other
Marine or Sailor. Among the recent Navy Cross recipients included are Chief Petty Officers
Stephen Bass and Britt Slabinski, both Navy SEALs, and the "Fallujah Seven" Marines:
Capt. Brent Morel, Sgt. Willie L. Copeland III, 1st Sgt. Bradley Kasal, Sgt. Robert J.
Mitchell, Cpl. Jeremiah Workman, Sgt. Jarrett Kraft, and Lance Cpl. Dominic D. Esquibel.

About the Author
JAMES E. WISE Jr., a former naval aviator, intelligence officer, and Vietnam veteran, retired
from the U.S. Navy as a captain. His books include Stars in Blue and U-505: The Final Journey,
among many others. He lives in the Washington, D.C., metropolitan area.

SCOTT BARON, a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War and former law enforcement officer
in California, is the author of They Also Served: Military Biographies of Uncommon Americans
and coauthor, with Wise, of Women at War: Iraq, Afghanistan, and Other Conflicts.

3 22 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Dr. Edgar "Butch" Browning, economist, on, "does Keynesian economic work?"

3 22 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Review
George Marrett has done it again! Contrails over the Mojave: The Golden Age of Jet Flight
Testing at Edwards Air Force Base is a must have book for every lover of aviation. Marrett
writes as well as he flew, which is to say with authority, accuracy, punch and color! The
wonderful thing about Marrett is the amazing way he puts you in the cockpit of a complex
Mach 2 aircraft and makes you understand just how far he is pushing the envelope. He peals
back the layers of his fellow test pilot s personalities, exposing them as they really were:
dedicated, fearless scientists, always ready to push the envelope, but doing it the right
way the Edwards way. --Col. Walter J. Boyne, USAF (Ret.) Author of the Smithsonian
Book of Flight, former Director of the Smithsonian s National Air & Space Museum and
a Member of the National Aviation Hall of Fame

Product Description
In Contrails over the Mojave, Marrett takes off where author Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff
ended in 1963. Marrett started the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB only two
weeks after the school's commander, Col. Chuck Yeager, ejected from a Lockheed NF-104
trying to set a world altitude record. He describes life as a space cadet experiencing 15 Gs
in a human centrifuge, zero-G maneuvers in a KC-135 'Vomit Comet,' and a flight to 80,000
feet in a Lockheed F-104A Starfighter. After graduating from Yeager's 'Charm School,' he
was assigned to the Fighter Branch of Flight Test Operations for three years. There he flew
the Air Force's latest fighter aircraft and chased other test aircraft like the X-15 rocket ship
and the XB-70A Valkyrie as they set world speed and altitude records.

Marrett takes you into the cockpit with him going vertical in a T-38 Talon, high-G maneuvering
in an F-4C Phantom and wet runway landing tests in the accident-prone F-111A Aardvark.
Marrett relives stories of crashes when his test pilot friends were killed. He writes about Air
Force test pilot Col. 'Silver Fox' Stephens setting a world speed record in the YF-12
Blackbird and Lockheed test pilot Bob Gilliland flying a single-engine, minimum-control speed
stall in the SR-71 spy plane. He recounts dead-sticking a T-38 to a landing on Rogers Dry
Lake after a twin-engine failure and conducting dangerous tail hook barrier testing in a fighter
jet without a canopy. Marrett also writes about a UFO sighting in the night sky above the
Mojave Desert, a mysterious sighting now referred to as 'The Edwards Encounter.'


3 15 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Law professor Richard E[stein recorded at the Goldwater Institute on the current problem
with constitutional adherence.

3 15 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

March 13th 2009

Government Destroys Once Fired Brass Cases
This a selection of email content - presented ''as is''.

From: KTO
To: undisclosed-recipients
Sent: Friday, March 13, 2009 2:31 PM
Subject: [Fwd: More ammo problems - Action Needed]

Dear MSSA Friends,

Another serious problem has just been created to add to the critical ammo shortage in the U.S.
Read my letter to Senator Max Baucus about this below. An agency of the Department of
Defense has just directed that all military fired brass must be destroyed.

I highly recommend that you send emails to U.S. Senators Baucus and Tester, and to
Montana's lone Congressman Rehberg, asking them to get immediately onto fixing this.

FYI, Baucus is Chairman of the powerful Senate Finance Committee. He could simply call the
Pentagon and tell them that if they don't reverse this DLA directive that the Pentagon will suffer
a mysterious budget cut of several billion dollars. Also, Baucus's former Chief of Staff, Jim
Messina, is now Deputy Chief of Staff at the White House. If Max called Jim and asked, Jim
could fix this problem with a phone call too.

I recommend you communicate with the Baucus, Tester and Rehberg staffers who are tasked
to firearms issues. They are:

Baucus - "Heather O'Loughlin" heather_o'loughlin@baucus.senate.gov

Tester - "Lillstrom, Alpha" Alpha_Lillstrom@tester.senate.gov

Rehberg - "Abra Belke" abra.belke@mail.house.gov

Tell them we simply don't accept the military destroying perfectly good brass that could be
sold into the civilian market for private and commercial reloading.

Gary

========================

Max,

Greetings from Missoula.

You called me on October 24th, 2008, to ask me to let you know if there is ever anything
MSSA needs you to do for us and for Montana gun owners.

Thank you. This is exactly such a case.

In the email below from the Defense Logistics Agency you will see that DLA has effectively
ordered the immediate non-sale and destruction of all once-fired military brass.

Max, this is a HUGE problem.

Why is this a problem? The RKBA is only as good as the ammunition supply for the firearms
we own. The shelves of the Nation's sporting goods stores are essentially bare of ammunition.
The entire ammunition market in the U.S. is highly stressed.

For example, I have six classes scheduled for April to teach Montana citizens gun safety and
self defense with firearms. Students must bring 100 rounds of ammunition to these classes.
I thought to check this week about availability of ammunition for my students for these April
classes - the most common ammunition in .38 special and 9mm. Of four primary sporting
goods stores in Missoula, three had NONE - at all! One store has a limited supply that it
doesn't expect to last long.

Against this background of ammunition shortage, about the only ammunition that continues
to be somewhat available is that from second tier manufacturers who are remanufacturing
ammunition from once-fired military cartridge brass. As of yesterday, that supply came to
an end because of the DLA administrative decision to destroy ("demil") all fired military
brass.

Max, I have a lot more information about the national ammunition shortage, too much to put
in one email. It is both a supply and demand problem. Without that lengthy detail, take my
word for it that U.S. gun owners are very at-risk for their effective RKBA because of existing
ammunition shortages. This administrative decision by DLA places a log on the back of a
camel already sagging in the middle.

We sincerely hope that you can do something to turn DLA around, and reauthorize the flow
of once-fired, undestroyed military brass from the military to civilians and civilian entities.

One final thought. The military can sell reloadable brass for $2.00 per pound. Brass that has
been destroyed for reloading purposes and value sells for about 35 cents per pound. So the
DLA is expecting taxpayers to pay DoD extra to make reloadable brass unavailable to civilian
gun owners.

Please keep us informed about what can be done and is being done to fix this serious problem.

Sincerely yours,
Gary Marbut, president
Montana Shooting Sports Association
http://www.mtssa.org/
author, Gun Laws of Montana
http://www.mtpublish.com/
-----Original Message-----
From:SurplusNews@govliquidation.com

SurplusNews@govliquidation.com
Sent: Thursday, March 12, 2009 5:34 PM
To: rlepage@usa.net
Subject: Important Notice to Scrap Metal Buyers!

http://www.govliquidation.com/

Dear Valued Customer:

Please take a moment to note important changes set forth by the Defense Logistics Agency:

Recently it has been determined that fired munitions of all calibers, shapes and sizes have
been designated to be Demil code B. As a result and in conjunction with DLA's current Demil
code B policy, this notice will serve as official notification which requires Scrap Venture (SV)
to implement mutilation as a condition of sale for all sales of fired munitions effective immediately.
This notice also requires SV to immediately cease delivery of any fired munitions that have been
recently sold or on active term contracts, unless the material has been mutilated prior to sale
or SV personnel can attest to the mutilation after delivery. A certificate of destruction is required
in either case.

Thank you,

DOD Surplus
15051 N Kierland Blvd # 300
Scottsdale, AZ 85254

2 1 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

NASA Admits that 1934, Not 1998, was the
Warmest Year on Record
(The counter to the book below)
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/347541/nasa_
admits_that_1934_not_1998_was.html

Mr. Faris, had not heard of "letters of marque."  Journalist??? CH

 

From Publishers Weekly
The latest communiqué from the emerging genre of traveling the world in the footsteps
of climate change is an intelligent, nuanced report on the complex relationships between
increasingly unstable weather patterns and politics, ecology and lifestyles. Journalist
Faris shows how the genocide in Darfur has roots in desertification and may be a canary
in the coal mine, a foretaste of climatically driven political chaos, and how the resulting
emigration of Africans to Europe is causing economic pressures that are being met with
fascistic movements in Italy and Britain. Locals are abandoning Key West and New
Orleans due to unsustainable insurance premiums; Bangladesh is likely to be flooded
out of existence; and drought may wipe out the Amazon rain forest within 70 years. Faris
cites a study predicting a world depicted by Mad Max, only hotter, with no beaches and
perhaps with even more chaos. But, depressingly, he admits that his travels researching
this book released nine times an average person's annual carbon use and that the world
many have opened its eyes to climate change, but we're far from taking effective action.
(Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
_______________________________________________________________________

2 1 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

 

Kevin Baker, gun blogger

 

On the topic of gunblogging, I have a sidebar on my blog where I put up links to what I consider
my "best of" posts, but here are several that other people have linked to that give you a flavor
of my particular take on the genre:

On politics: "Reasonable People" -
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2005/12/reasonable-people.html

On the legal history of American gun control: "Of Laws and Sausages" -
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/03/of-laws-and-sausages.html

On the topic of self-defense, three short pieces:

"(I)t's most important that all potential victims be as dangerous as they can." -

http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004
/06/its-most-important-that-all-potential.html

"Violence and the Social Contract" -
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004/06/violence-and-social-contract-in.html

"Governments, Criminals and Dangerous Victims" -
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2004/06/governments-criminals-and-dangerous.html

On education: "The George Orwell Daycare Center" -
http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/06/george-orwell-daycare-center.html

I'm an essayist, or at least I try to be when I have the time to sit, think, and write.  Another
blogger said of me once, "I don't read as many blogs as a lot of other people do so I can't
say he is the best philosopher on guns and freedom. I can only say he is by far the best
philosopher of the bloggers I have read." (My cranial swelling went down a few days after
I read that.)  This whole blogging thing for me has been an exploration of philosophy -
something I think the overwhelming majority of people in this country don't have.  Understand
though, I don't really have a tight, coherent philosophy of my own - that's what I'm working
toward.  I am, to a very large extent, a pragmatist rather than an idealist.  A post that you
might find helpful on that topic is this one:

http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/08/freedom-hope-outrage-bright-lines.html

As for other gunbloggers, they range from those dedicated to self defense to those largely
dedicated to sport shooting.  A good selection:

Zendo Deb of "TFS Magnum"  http://wheelgun.blogspot.com/ - Deb is a gay woman who, until
recently, lived aboard a sailboat in Florida.  She writes about domestic violence and defensive
gun uses, with emphasis on the gay community.

David Hardy of "Of Arms and the Law" http://armsandthelaw.com/ - David is a Tucson lawyer
who has argued before the Supreme Court (and won!).  He started his blog with a grant from
the NRA, but it's a great resource for what's going on in the legal world WRT gun rights.  He'd
probably be a very good guest, too!

Say Uncle (anonymous blogger, but I've met him) http://www.saysuncle.com/ - Uncle is what is
termed an "aggregator" - he collects interesting stuff from all over the web and points to it from
his site, often with some sharp commentary.

Tamara K. of "View from the Porch" http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/ - Tam is unusual,
to put it mildly.  She collects S&W revolvers and old military rifles, and has an encyclopedic
knowledge of both. She actually runs three different blogs, one on old Apple computer hardware,
and one specifically on firearms, "The Arms Room" http://cosmolineandrust.blogspot.com/. 
Peruse THAT one - the photos are all of guns she owns.  And she's about 40.   I've met her,
too.  In addition to her other charms, she has an absolutely wicked sense of humor and a
razor-sharp tongue.

There are, in fact, a LOT of females in the gunblogging community, and they all have some
damned interesting things to say.

I don't want this to turn into another 13,000 word essay, so I'll end it here with links to a (very)
few of the better posts of other bloggers for you to peruse:

Marko Kloos, The Munchkin Wrangler - "Why the gun is civilization" -
http://munchkinwrangler.blogspot.com/2007/03/why-gun-is-civilization.html 
(If you've seen it elsewhere attributed to others, he is the original author.)

Hecate's Crossroad - "Now Do Something Constructive" -
http://hecatescrossroad.blogspot.com/2009/01/now-do-something-constructive.html

View From the Porch, "An Army of Davids, illustrated" -
http://booksbikesboomsticks.blogspot.com/2007/02/army-of-davids-illustrated.html 
The first line is GOLD.

Musings of the Geek with a .45, (another anonyblogger.  I haven't met him, but I've spoken to
him on the phone.)  "Initial Thoughts"

http://geekwitha45.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html#7183272512494817807

Joe Huffman, The View from North Central Idaho, "The Jews in the Attic Test"
- http://www.joehuffman.org/Freedom/JewsInTheAttic.htm 
Joe is the proprietor of the annual
Boomershoot event in which participants attempt to hit explosive targets at ranges varying
from 300 to 700 yards.  The 700 yard targets are 7" on a side.  I'm going this year - it'll be
my first.

Kevin Baker

 

 

1 25 09 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Thomas Craughwell

"Failures of the Presidents From The Whiskey Rebellion and
The War of 1812 to The Bay of Pigs and War In Iraq."

Review

1 25 09 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Howard Nemerov
CALLING ALL CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS

12 28 08 12 PM Liberty Watch

Ronald Springer

Please Refer Listener Inquiries to www.MoralArmor.com
Illinois Governor Declares Moral Bankruptcy
New Scandal Puts Focus on Morals
In Politics and Leadership

Topic Summary

In a scandal that defies logic and reason, Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich - already
under federal investigation for corruption - was arrested after his recent attempts to
auction off the US Senate seat vacated by President-Elect Barack Obama to the
highest bidder. It begs the question of which moral crime the governor was more
guilty of - moral bankruptcy or stupidity? Either way, Ron Springer, author of
Moral Armor and the CD program A Bridge Between Us All, has spent 20 years
studying psychology and philosophy and offers some insight to what the latest
scandal has to say about the state of political and moral leadership in America.

Discussion Topics

• What does Governor Blagojevich's arrest say about moral progress, or lack thereof,
  in American politics?
• Because it is the governor of his home state, will this scandal taint President-Elect
  Obama, or is his leadership profile strong enough to withstand the scrutiny?
• Why is it important not to have just one great leader, but a leader in every life?
• How is it that morality is NOT primarily a social idea?
• If we practice selflessness, selves will be destroyed. If we practice unconditional
  love, the conditions will be deplorable. If we give up the power of the mind, the r
  esults will be mindless. How do we reconcile these concepts in our daily lives?

• We have to return morality to the constructive, life-shaping tool it was meant to be.
  What are Moral Armor's four simple steps to moral certainty?
• How do we find what JFK termed "our most basic common link" and build A Bridge
  Between Us All that will last?

Topic Overview

Ron Springer, author of Moral Armor and the CD program A Bridge Between Us All,
believes we have a great new leader, but we as Americans can't keep waiting around,
hoping and praying for a decent leader to emerge and save us once a generation. We
need a leader in every life. We the people are very vulnerable because we're so divided
about what's right and wrong; we need a standard everyone can agree on. With that, we
can focus the power of the people and address the glaring issues weakening our country
and make her stronger than ever. While Obama fixes America from the top, we can do
our part and meet him halfway by rebuilding from the ground up.

Moral Armor is the world's first fully integrated moral philosophy based on nature itself.
With a few simple patterns, it offers moral certainty for the individual. This involves pursuing
the best person you can be and wiping out moral confusion so you can not only enjoy life,
but protect yourself (your family, your country) from any opposition. The project is about
moral clarity that's everyday useful; clear thinking and provable ideas--nothing flighty or
fanciful.

About Ron Springer

Ronald E. Springer has spent more than ten years developing a fully integrated moral code
for Man, involving 20,000 hours of study in philosophy and psychology?the equivalent of two
PhDs. Outside of philosophy, Ron has a background in Real Estate, the Stock Market and
Automotive Design. He spends most of his time researching economics, history, philosophy
and psychology, looking to bring new clarity and new armor to mankind 

12 28 08 1 PM America Armed & Free

11 30 08 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Drake Larson

Product Description
Have you ever wanted someone to explain the Theory of Relativity to you in a way
that's honest and easy to understand? "The Cults of Relativity" does just that,
playfully explaining parallel uni-verses, the warping of time and how Einstein
derived E=mc2. Then it blasts off into the deep unknown to examine a world
of cults whose members worship statistics and a remarkable proph-
ecy called Cem. Your guides for this journey include Albert Einstein, Mark
Twain and an impres-sive list of physicists, physicians, philosophers...and liars.

"Cults" presents a new view of our universe and is a must-read for those wishing
to explore the outer edges of science. Author Drake Larson is an organic grape
grower who developed impressive theories and friendships while attending UCLA.
A science editor for the Oakland Tribune once described him as "...the smartest
guy I ever knew...he may wind up with a Nobel Prize...
in which case, I'll put in for a Pulitzer!"
____________________________________________________________________________

11 30 08 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Dr. Kathleen Puckett

From Publishers Weekly
Turchie, a former FBI Deputy Assistant Director, and Puckett, an author and former
Special Agent(Hunting the American Terrorist), bring their expertise to bear in a spirited
defense of the bureau and a stinging attack on those who would limit its scope. Damning
"the exercise of unfettered political power" in Washington that has constrained FBI
operations, the authors charge politicians with being "literally addicted to the perks
and pleasures of power," their only aim to protect themselves from exposure. Com-
paring Washington's political culture to the "royal courts of monarchies and the
ancient Roman Senate," they specifically charge presidents Nixon, Reagan, Bush,
Clinton and Bush with "concealment, lying, and deception," and are particularly
unsparing in their criticism of VP Dick Cheney. Truly fascinating insights crop up
throughout, such as their discussion of Associate FBI Director Mark Felt, aka "Deep
Throat," who wasattempting to expose Hoover's successor L. Patrick Gray, a Nixon
appointee with an important role in the Watergate cover up. Though their dim view of
those who've worked to defend civil liberties (President Ford, Senator Frank Church,
Rep. Don Edwards, etc.) and clamorous frustration may rub some the wrong way,
Turchie and Puckett provide an account full of intriguing sidelights from inside the
bureau.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc.
All rights reserved.

Review
"...With the precision of a surgeon and the markmanship of a sniper the authors peel
away thewrapping surrounding some of our most famous leaders both past and present.
What we find laying under the the public vaneer are some pretty ugly facts. Don't be
fooled into thinking this is a partisan book whose timing is set to coincide with
Novembers election. Turchie and Puckett have no political affiliations, in their eyes
both Republicans and Democrats are equally guilty as charged..."
--Simon Barrett, Blogger News Network
_______________________________________________________________________________

11 23 0 8 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

To Bail or Not To Bail?  

Why the Auto Industry Should Bail Itself Out

With the Big 3 automakers trekking to Capitol Hill to make their case for a
government bail-out, popular opinion seems squarely against the multi-billion
dollar plan. With taxpayers on the hook
for nearly a trillion dollars in financial market bailouts already, it could be that
consumers are tired of their tax dollars feeding the failures of big business.
But there's more to it than that.

Bob Prosen, acclaimed corporate coach and author of Kiss Theory Goodbye:
Five proven Ways to Get Extraordinary results in Any Company says the
auto industry needs to live or die on its own, because it's what's right for the
marketplace.

Bob's arguments include:

• Free markets should be free - The auto industry saw the collapse coming
  for a long time, and still insisted on cranking out SUVs and large trucks that
  became the white elephants of the road. When companies make choices,
  the market should be the one to punish or reward them - not Congress.
• Piling on is bad - Granted, when Congress caved to the banking lobby on
  the market bailout, it basically hung out the sign reading "Open for Business,"
  but it doesn't necessarily follow that every major industry should get their
  share of the pie just because Congress is baking one.
• CEOs behaving badly - The American consumer is not happy about the
  habit of corporations to reward failure. CEOs drive a company into the
  ground, get fired, and ride their golden parachute to Tahiti. The bailout
  money is still paying executive bonuses, even in the face of their mind-
  boggling bungles. I think rewarding the auto industry for feeding their greed
  would be the last straw for a middle class ready to march on Washington
  with pitchforks and torches like the villagers in a Frankenstein movie.

Prosen has over 25 years corporate executive experience to his name, including;
Senior Vice President at Sabre, Vice President of Professional Services at
Hitachi, Managing Partner of AT&T and Director, Financial Management with
Sprint, where he helped them to show their first profit.  He has been on countless
local shows across the country, as well as the Happy Hour show on Fox Business
Network just last month.  His Tips on How to Recession-Proof Your Business were
also featured on MSNBC last month as well.
_______________________________________________________________

11 23 0 8 12:30 PM Liberty Watch

*OBAMA: FEAR AND THE SECURITY FORCE*

By Selwyn Duke 
November 16, 2008 
NewsWithViews.com 

In all my life I have never seen such intense emotion surrounding a leader as that evoked 
by Barack Obama. Even Ronald Reagan, the Gipper himself, didn't enjoy the kind of 
prostration of the will offered to the president-elect by hordes of followers. Yet, while 
people the world over are imbued with "hope" and chant Obama's slogan "Yes, we can!" 
- for instance, the French are using their translation of it, /"Oui, nous pouvons!"/ - some 
of the intense emotion is of a very different species. 

It is fear. 

In all my life I have never seen an American politician who could make so many Americans' 
blood run cold. Some may mention the left's feelings regarding Reagan or President Bush, 
but there is no equivalency. For all of leftists' bluster and melodrama, they weren't afraid of 
those men as much as they, well, just hated them. Sure, leftist ideologues said those two 
Republicans were scary, but the same people also said that each one was both dumb and 
Machiavellian. Hatred is an emotion, and emotion isn't logical; it just conjures up whatever 
feels right at the moment. 

In Obama's case, however, I sense a real, palpable, go-white-in-the-face fear akin to what 
might be evident in someone who has a gun put to his head or believes he has seen a 
demon. I know for instance, a stout-hearted man of rough-hewn breeding and my political 
persuasion who has said about the impending changing of the guard, "I'm afraid." 

However, he is a right-winger like me, and just as with the leftist ideologues who "feared" 
Reagan and Bush, we aren't exactly a representative sample of America. 

But this is what is truly, well, scary. I have seen this fear not just in rightist politics wonks 
but also in people who are not in the habit of troubling much over politics at all. For example, 
I was surprised recently when a woman I know - someone who could easily abide by the 
injunction, "Never discuss religion or politics" - said in a most sober fashion that she was 
thinking of /leaving the country/. Then there is an elderly Jewish gentleman of my acquaint-
ance who lived through WWII; this man could be described as almost apolitical, was 
probably more apt to vote Democrat than Republican and isn't given to issuing political 
opinion, let alone hyperbole. Yet when someone else broached the subject of Obama's 
legions of fawning admirers, he broke his pattern and interjected, "This is like what 
happened with Hitler. . . ." 

Then consider this statement printed a couple of months ago: "Big Brother had nothing on 
the Obamas. They plan to herd American youth into government-funded reeducation camps 
where they'll be brainwashed into thinking America is a racist, oppressive place in need of 
'social change.'" 

Is this the rambling of some right-wing site occupying the dark recesses of the Web or a 
radical on a soapbox? I mean, after all, it's not the kind of thing you read in the /New York 
Times/. Actually, it's excerpted from a September 4 piece IBDArticles.aspx?id=3054206
55186700> in /Investor's Business Daily/ (IBD), a mainstream 
paper of great repute. 

Are all these people delusional? Are they simply stuck in time and afraid of change? Maybe 
it's that they have some idea what that change will be. 

Fear can certainly be and often is irrational. Yet, generally speaking, the most real fear 
comes from real threats. A ghost story may scare a child, but not nearly as much as if he 
actually sees a ghost. Imagining what it's like to have a gun to your head may be scary, 
but not as much so as if you feel cold, blued steel pressed against your temple. And I 
sense real fear. 

What is there to be afraid of? A good place to start is with the content of the IBD story 
cited earlier. 

Most of us have heard Obama state that "We've got to have a civilian national security 
force that's just as powerful, just as strong, just as well-funded" as the military. This 
alone is enough to send shivers up an informed spine, but it gets even worse when 
you hear the specifics. Obama intends to use a radical activist group he helped found 
called "Public Allies" as the model for, as IBD puts it, ". . . his Orwellian program, '
Universal Voluntary Public Service.'" 

IBD reports on the inducements used to entice young people into this national service 
corps and its true aim: . . . they'll get a monthly stipend of up to $1,800, plus paid health 
and child care. They also get a post-service education award of $4,725 that can be used 
to pay off past student loans or fund future education. 

But its real mission is to radicalize American youth and use them to bring about 'social 
change' through threats, pressure, tension and confrontation - the tactics used by the 
father of community organizing, Saul "The Red" Alinsky. 

As bad as this sounds, I believe the reality will be far worse. I'll explain where I think this 
will lead, but first we must understand a collective psychological phenomenon that is 
now apparent. 

When Abraham in the Bible was prepared to obey God's command and sacrifice his son
 Isaac on Mount Moriah, it was, and this may shock some, understandable. God is perfect 
and the author of morality, and while we may not always understand His ways, the Divine 
Mind always knows what is best. So the story is a lesson of faith and trust in God. God 
cannot be wrong. You don't question God. 

Whether you have faith or not, it's easy enough to grasp that such deference is under-
standable when talking about a perfect, divine being. But it's downright dangerous when 
applied to a human being. Any human being. 

Unfortunately, while the deific monikers applied to Obama such as "The One" or "The 
Messiah" have become grist for comedians, humorists and just plain old wise-guys, 
they're no laughing matter. They reflect a real spirit that has imbued millions, and this 
is why far scarier than Obama are his followers. They have deified the man, and you 
don't question your god. I truly believe that just as many Germans followed Hitler over 
the precipice during WWII, there are many Americans today who would follow Obama 
unquestioningly, unthinkingly, unknowingly - into the fires of Hell. 

If this sounds as laughable as deific labels, know that it isn't radical to claim that a 
continually-recycling historical pattern will manifest itself again and can do so here; 
radical is to imply that within American borders the laws of man's nature are somehow 
suspended. In nature (not culture), Americans are no different from the people who 
followed Hitler, Mussolini, Ayatollah Khomeini, Pol Pot or Lenin. The tendency to deify 
leaders is universal. 

With this understanding, I'll now give you my prediction as to how Obama's Universal 
Voluntary Public Service program will evolve. 

With his oratorical skills and a complicit media, the president-elect will be able to sell 
this scheme with talk about security, equality and liberating the downtrodden. "It's the 
best way to combat crime, hopelessness and a lack of opportunity in the inner city," 
he will say. "And I know this well from my days as a community organizer on Chicago's 
mean streets." He will tout how it provides health care, education and skills to the have-
nots, and his media-oiled silver tongue's salesmanship will prevail. It will be sold with a 
low-end price tag, and his fellow-traveler controlled Houses will echo the message and
 deliver the votes. Of course, just like Social Security and a trove of other government
 programs, its cost will make a mockery of predictions. But Uncle Sam's budget 
projections aren't designed for budgets, but for marketing. 

As always happens with such groups, program members will eventually be identified 
with some colloquial and catchy label. I can't tell you what it will be, only that it won't be 
Brownshirts or Blackshirts. And the official name of the program itself may even be 
changed a few years hence. 

As with the Public Allies program, members will have to attend seminars and "retreats" 
where they will be indoctrinated with leftist ideology. Aside from learning how America is 
a "racist and "sexist" country, they will be taught that she is also ridden with "hetero-
sexism," which, IBD writes, ". . . a Public Allies training seminar in Chicago describes 
as a negative byproduct of 'capitalism, white supremacy, patriarchy and male-
dominated privilege.'" They will be taught that these evils can never be vanquished 
until every last vestige of traditional America is utterly destroyed. 

The pressure to conform will be immense, as it always is in politically-correct entities. 
The corps will have a huge core of true believers, who will act as ideological hammers. 
They will preach diversity but practice conformity. 

Just like Public Allies, this program may be birthed primarily in the inner cities. That is 
where Obama's main support is, and, as stated before, he will claim this is where the 
corps' help is needed most. It will then be empowered to do "social good," which could 
mean anything from helping at soup kitchens to recruiting those ripe for indoctrination 
to forming some kind of neighborhood crime watch. As for the last task, though, given 
the corps' ideology and the fact that it will be drawing members from high-crime areas 
initially, I expect it to contain a not insignificant criminal element. It will be corrupt from 
the get-go and may even assume the character of an organized crime syndicate. 

But its "security" mandate will be chilling. In the name of combating garden-variety 
crime and, more specifically, terrorism, who knows what powers the corps will be 
granted? Will they one day help enforce an order to seize firearms, if not via direct 
action then through information gathering? I can't know exactly, but I do know the 
powers will be misused. 

Over time, the program may be expanded to include a corps for even younger 
adolescents, perhaps starting at age 13 or 14. As before, I can't tell you exactly 
what it will be called, but it won't be "The Obama Youth" - not officially, anyway. 
And, certainly by this time, joining it will be the thing the "cool" kids do, sort of like 
the Boy Scouts' evil twin. 

Then, the result may be that we will have, to use John Edwards' terminology, "two 
Americas": Those who belong to the corps and those who don't. But I think I know 
which of the two will be more formidable. Remember when the student thugs at 
Columbia University stormed a stage to stop Minutemen representatives from 
speaking? Similar things have happened at colleges throughout the country, and 
they give us a glimpse into the character of the corps. Just picture the same 
fascist-minded bullies, only more organized, more numerous, even more ideo-
logical and far, far bolder. And many authorities in the nation may tolerate their 
intimidation with a wink and a nod. 

We should also take note of the program's name, Universal Voluntary Public 
Service. One of the definitions http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Universal 
of "universal" is, "affecting, concerning, or involving /all/ [emphasis mine]." And I 
suspect the word most likely to be dropped from the name eventually is not 
"universal" but "voluntary." 

Of course, they don't call me the Amazing Kreskin. I'm no soothsayer and I could 
be wrong about many of the details I provided. But the fear is real and the historical 
allusions are valid. 

Speaking of which, Georgia Congressman Paul Broun recently addressed the 
program and exhibited both fear and a grasp of history, saying 
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94CDDM80&show_article=1

"That's exactly what Hitler did in Nazi Germany and it's exactly what the Soviet 
Union did. When he's proposing to have a national security force that's answering 
to him, that is as strong as the U.S. military, he's showing me signs of being Marxist." 

Of course, many will nevertheless say that such concerns are but the musings of the 
tin-foil hat crowd. But such scoffing is par for the course. As Professor Manfred Weidhorn 
of Yeshiva University wrote 
: 

". . . even if you are prescient enough to observe oncoming evils, you are prevented from 
acting precisely because other people, being normal, lack your prescience. They therefore 
see you, rather than the evil person, as the deluded or warmongering malevolent soul. 
When Churchill warned about Hitler in the 1930s, many people became more upset with 
Churchill than with Hitler. The anomaly is that the prophet has therefore to wait for the 
evil to manifest itself and thereby to make everyone else see things the prophet's way. 
But by then the chance to do anything may be gone." 

So there is an answer for those who would say "You've thoroughly Godwinned 
 yourself, Duke." If you bristle at the comparison 
and don't want to wear the shoe, then the onus is on you to be vigilant, to make sure it 
never, ever fits.

 © 2008 Selwyn Duke - All Rights Reserved
_________________________________________________________________

11 23 08 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Dr. Margo Thorning
- ACCF Executive Vice President and Director of Research
- ACCF Center for Policy Research Executive Vice President and 
Director of Research

Dr. Margo Thorning is an expert economist on energy and environmental policy urges 
the president-elect caution on broad policies that could severely undermine U.S. economic
 recovery. For over 20 years, Dr. Margo Thorning has been an internationally recognized 
economic expert on energy, environmental, tax and competitiveness issues.  She serves 
as senior vice president and chief economist with the American Council for Capital 
Formation (www.accf.org).  Prior to the she worked for both the Department of Energy 
and the U.S. Department of Commerce. Dr. Thorning received a B.A. from Texas 
Christian University, an M.A. in economics from the University of Texas, and a Ph.D. 
in economics from the University of Georgia.

              ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
   

President-elect Obama surprised many with his video message to the Governors Global 
Climate Summit in L.A. this week in which he pledged to aggressively address climate 
change through policies "that will strengthen our security and create millions of new jobs 
in the process."  

-              The President-elect's climate change plan requires an 80% cut in greenhouse 
gases below 1990 levels by 2050. Many economic analyses indicate this policy will raise 
energy prices sharply and slow economic and job growth. Electricity prices could rise by 
as much as 130 percent by 2030. 

-              The President-elect's clean energy initiative calls for putting 1 million electric 
plugs -in hybrid cars by 2015.  Yet consumers and businesses will struggle with such 
vehicles if electricity prices raise substantially, especially given the current issues 
plaguing the electric car movement--initial cost differential, limitations in range, and 
battery durability.

-              The President-elect's plan requires 10 percent of our electricity come from 
renewable sources by 2012-a serious blow that will retard economic recovery.  Renewable 
energy costs more than conventional energy so trying to push its adoption faster than 
market forces would adopt it will cost net jobs because increased energy prices slow 
economic growth. 

-              The President-elect's plan to spend an additional $150 billion of taxpayer dollars 
over the next ten years to promote faster uptake of renewable energy will result in much 
waste and inefficient use of scarce resources. The federal government already devotes
 a large amount to renewables, 30 percent of the $16.6 billion spent for on energy 
subsidies and support in FY  2007 went for renewable energy.   

-            Climate change and GHG emission reduction is a global problem and cannot be 
solved by a country  "going it alone"--which the U.S. would be doing if it adopts the Obama 
cap and trade plan. Other countries that have tried to cap GHG emissions have had little 
success. For example, the European Union is not on track to meet its Kyoto Protocol 
goal of reducing emission by 8 percent below 1990 levels by 2010-2012. 
____________________________________________________________________

11 23 08 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Alan Gottleib

NEWS RELEASE
Second Amendment Foundation
12500 NE Tenth Place  ? Bellevue, WA   98005
(425) 454-7012  ? FAX (425) 451-3959  ? www.saf.org

HOLDER NOMINATION SIGNALS OBAMA'S 
TRUE ANTI-GUN RIGHTS AGENDA 

For Immediate Release:   11/19/2008
BELLEVUE, WA - The nomination of Eric Holder for the post of attorney general of the United
 States sends an "alarming signal" to gun owners about how the Barack Obama administration 
will view individual gun rights, as affirmed this year by the Supreme Court, the Second Amend-
ment Foundation said today.
"Eric Holder signed an amicus brief in the Heller case that supported the District of Columbia's 
handgun ban, and also argued that the Second Amendment does not protect an individual right," 
noted SAF founder Alan Gottlieb. "He has supported national handgun licensing and mandatory 
trigger locks. As deputy attorney general under Janet Reno, he lobbied Congress to pass 
legislation that would have curtailed legitimate gun shows.
"This is not the record of a man who will come to office as the nation's top law enforcement officer 
with the rights and concerns of gun owners in mind," he observed.
Holder's nomination, like the appointment of anti-gun Illinois Congressman Rahm Emanuel as 
White House Chief of Staff, tells American gun owners that Obama's campaign claims supporting 
the Second Amendment were "empty rhetoric," Gottlieb stated. 
"America's 85 million gun owners have ample reason to be pessimistic about how their civil rights
 will fare under the Obama administration," Gottlieb said. "Mr. Obama will have a Congress with an 
anti-gun Democrat majority leadership to push his gun control agenda. Gun owners have not 
forgotten Mr. Obama's acknowledged opposition to concealed carry rights, nor his support for a 
ban on handgun ownership when he was running for the Illinois state senate. 
"Barack Obama vigorously portrayed himself on the campaign trail as a man who supports gun 
ownership," Gottlieb concluded, "but now that he has won the election, he is surrounding himself 
with people who are avowed gun prohibitionists. What better indication of what to expect from Barack 
Obama as president than the people he is selecting to lead his administration? This isn't a roster of 
devoted public servants. It's a rogue's gallery of extremists who have labored to erase the Second 
Amendment from the Bill of Rights."
The Second Amendment Foundation (www.saf.org) is the nations oldest and largest tax-exempt 
education, research, publishing and legal action group focusing on the Constitutional right and 
heritage to privately own and possess firearms. Founded in 1974, The Foundation has grown to 
more than 600,000 members and supporters and conducts many programs designed to better 
inform the public about the consequences of gun control. SAF has previously funded successful 
firearms-related suits against the cities of Los Angeles; New Haven, CT; and San Francisco on 
behalf of American gun owners, a lawsuit against the cities suing gun makers and an amicus 
brief and fund for the Emerson case holding the Second Amendment as an individual right.
-END- 
___________________________________________________________

11 16 0 8 12:00 PM Liberty Watch

Tom Jenney

Reform Arizona Plan? [AFP]
Arizona's Top Ten Budget Reforms for 2009

1)  Short-Term Budget Reform.  The Legislature should send a winter or spring referendum
to the voters to get permission to temporarily suspend voter-mandated automatic spending
increases during the declared fiscal emergencies in Fiscal Years 2009, 2010, and 2011. 
(Model bill:  HCR 2044 from 2008.)

2)  No Tax Increases.  Most important: prevent the return of the state equalization property
tax.  If the Legislature and Governor do nothing, there will be an automatic property tax
increase of $100 per household.

3)  No Federal Borrowing or General-Obligation Bonding.  Those are recipes for long-
term, California-style fiscal distress.  Federal "help" will come with dangerous policy strings
attached. 

4)  Spending Reductions.  Save $1.5 billion by enacting immediate 15% reductions to all
government agencies other than law enforcement.  15% reductions will take Arizona back to
FY 2007 spending levels, with per-recipient amounts reduced to FY 2005 or FY 2006 amounts. 
That means a reduction in government benefits to 2005 levels.  For the last five years, government
has spent money at unrealistic levels, and it is now time to get back to reality.  The size of the
Napolitano deficit is now over $1,000 per Arizona household.  We must not force Arizona
taxpayers (now, or in the future) to pay for the cost of the government's spending problem.

5)  Long-Term Budget Reform.  Send to the 2010 ballot a referendum changing the personal
income spending limit in the AZ Constitution from 7 percent to 6.4 percent (model: HCR 2038
from 2008), with two new additions: a taxpayer standing clause for judicial enforcement, and a
provision for immediate refund of excess monies to taxpayers.  This spending limit is not as
stringent as the Taxpayer Bill of Rights, but it would keep the government from growing faster
than the economy. 

6)  Local Government Transparency.  By 2010, taxpayers should be able to go online and
review every disbursement made by every political entity in the state of Arizona.  We passed
a state-level transparency bill back in June, but we must now ensure that every government in
Arizona has open books. 

7)  Treasurer Certification of the Arizona Budget.  Enact legislation requiring the Arizona
Treasurer to certify whether the state budgets are in legal compliance with the constitutional
requirement for a balanced budget and with the state spending limit.  (A great idea we got from
the Goldwater Institute.)

8)  Move Forward with School Choice.  Every child who leaves a government district school
and goes to a charter school or a private school (via scholarship tax credits or choice grants)
saves the state money?and greatly improves his or her odds of getting a good education.    

9)  Increase the Affordability of Private Health Insurance.  We must allow Arizona con-
sumers to have access to cheaper insurance plans available in other states.  You can buy
shoes, automobiles, and life insurance plans produced in other states.  Why not health
insurance plans?

10)  Use Private Financing for Future Statewide Transportation Projects.  For Arizona's
transportation infrastructure, the only viable alternative to a massive tax increase (which would
mean billions wasted on light rail and other transit boondoggles) is to allow private companies
to finance, construct, operate and maintain new road capacity.  For privatization in other areas
of state government, we should create a Florida-style Council on Efficient Government to identify
privatization opportunities and assist government agencies in developing business plans for
privatization.  (Thanks to the Reason Foundation for suggesting this idea to us.)

Chad Kirkpatrick, Arizona Chairman
Tom Jenney, Arizona Director
Americans for Prosperity
__________________________________________________________________

11 18 0 8 12:30 PM Liberty Watch

Howard Melamed

"The Science of Opportunity"

It Could Happen to You.

Have you ever had something unusual occur that made you say, "Wow! What a coincidence!"
Well, the next time that happens, Howard Melamed wants you to pay attention:

An opportunity is about to emerge.

Throughout his life?first as a student, then as an entrepreneur, and now as the CEO of a
multimillion dollar company, Howard has made a study of how people generate success?
both personally and professionally. What he found over and over again was that successful
people follow a one fundamental principle that continues to be universally true: coincidences
lead to opportunity.

Howard has expanded on this unique discovery to create The Science of Opportunity?a simple,
straightforward, effective approach you can use to create more of what you want in your life.

Of course, following The Science of Opportunity is not a passive activity; you have to be a
participant. You can liken the process to going fishing. You wouldn't just row out on a lake and
hope a fish jumps in your boat. You would take along good rod and reel and the right kind of bait
and look for clues as to the best spot. You look for opportunity, and when you find it, you are
prepared to seize it.

Not convinced? Then turn the page and prepare to be amazed and entertained. You will find
several real-life examples of ordinary people who, by allowing a coincidence to open their eyes,
found the right career or financial security or true love. Howard himself has experienced this
phenomenon on countless occasions, several of which he talks about in the book.

One of the best reasons to read this book, however, is to bounce along on the ebullient style with
which Howard makes his case. He has created a panoply of colorful analogies to support his theory,
and his writing is full of both good humor and good will. Howard has reaped the benefits of this little-
known secret. By reading this book, you can too.

Welcome to The Science of Opportunity.

Luck Has Nothing to Do With Success

Doesn't it seem like some people have all the luck? Good things constantly come their way,
seemingly without any effort on their part. The rest of us just shake our heads in disbelief and
envy, chalking up their good fortune to simply being "lucky."

Don't you believe it. There is no such thing as luck. Instead, there is something more powerful,
more prevalent, and more universal that can bring good things into the lives of not just a "lucky"
few but everyone:

Opportunity.

Here's the catch, though?it's not always obvious when opportunity is knocking at your door. But
you can learn how to be ready for opportunity when it does come your way?and be prepared to
capitalize on it?by following the principles of The Science of Opportunity.

The Science of Opportunity gives you a simple blueprint for attracting, identifying, and acting on
opportunities of all kinds in your life. Anyone can use these principles, regardless of age, gender,
race, financial situation, political bent, or religious persuasion. You don't have to learn a special
handshake,pay dues, recruit downline "associates," or mortgage the house to buy your way in.

However, to successfully use The Science of Opportunity, you do have to be willing to take one
very important step: Open your mind and become aware.

The choice is yours: You can wait passively and hope luck comes your way one day; or you can
take action and learn how to recognize when an opportunity crosses your path. Once you acquire
that knowledge, you possess the power to decide your own destiny.

And that beats luck any day.
____________________________________________________________________

11 16 0 8 1:00 PM America Armed & Free

Howard S. Smith