RadioActive with Steve Mitton: July 2011

Thursday, July 28, 2011

NHS begins rationing operations in cost-cutting drive

Two surgeons operating on a patient: Surgeons and anaesthetists in seven out of ten trusts reviewed by the Healthcare Commission do not have sufficient experience of treating children to maintain the proper level of skill, the report said.

New figures have found one in three Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) in England are reducing access to treatment for “non-urgent” operations.

Examples of rationing include knee operations only being allowed to go ahead where patients are in severe pain, overweight patients being made to lose weight prior to procedures, and cataract patients being denied treatment until their sight problems seriously affect their ability to work.

Chris Naylor, a senior researcher at the health think tank the King’s Fund, said yesterday: “There are always rationing decisions that have to go on in any health service.

New NASA Data Blow Gaping Hole In Global Warming Alarmism

NASA satellite data from the years 2000 through 2011 show the Earth's atmosphere is allowing far more heat to be released into space than alarmist computer models have predicted, reports a new study in the peer-reviewed science journal Remote Sensing. The study indicates far less future global warming will occur than United Nations computer models have predicted, and supports prior studies indicating increases in atmospheric carbon dioxide trap far less heat than alarmists have claimed.

Study co-author Dr. Roy Spencer, a principal research scientist at the University of Alabama in Huntsville and U.S. Science Team Leader for the Advanced Microwave Scanning Radiometer flying on NASA's Aqua satellite, reports that real-world data from NASA's Terra satellite contradict multiple assumptions fed into alarmist computer models.

"The satellite observations suggest there is much more energy lost to space during and after warming than the climate models show," Spencer said in a July 26 University of Alabama press release. "There is a huge discrepancy between the data and the forecasts that is especially big over the oceans."

Fort Hood Jihad II: Muslim Servicemen Arrested in Alleged Attack on Fort Hood, Captured with possession of large quantities of ammunition, weapons and

Three US soldiers were arrested for allegedly plotting a new attack on Fort Hood, the Texas base where a former Army psychiatrist went on a deadly rampage in 2009, a report said Thursday.

One of those arrested was Pvt. Nasser Abdo. Abdo had applied for conscientious objector status, and has refused to deploy to Afghanistan claiming that Islamic law prevented him from killing other Muslims. Authorities found explosives in the car of one of the US soldiers who was arrested for planning the attack on Ft. Hood.

According to FOX news, Muslim soldier Abdo had jihadi materials with him and had made a large purchase at Guns Galore in Killeen, Texas, the same ammunition store where Maj. Nidal Hasan purchased the weapons he allegedly used to gun down 13 people and wound 30 others on Nov. 5, 2009.

I anxiously await the same intense and extensive mainstream media coverage and obsession that we witnessed immediately after and in the ensuing days of the Norway massacre to determine the motivation behind this explosive plot at Fort Hood. I expect extremists Brian Williams, Anderson Cooper, the NY Times, LA Times, IHT, CNN, BBC, et al, to be just as rabidly obsessed and consumed with investigating what ideology incited this Muslim to recruit for jihad.

Obama on Recession: ‘Less Money Coming In,’ So We Had to ‘Spend Even More’

When speaking to the nation in a primetime television address on Monday, President Barack Obama said that because less money was “coming in” during the recession, the federal government had to “spend even more.”

“The deficit was on track to top $1 trillion the year I took office,” said Obama. “To make matters worse, the recession meant that there was less money coming in, and it required us to spend even more -- on tax cuts for middle-class families to spur the economy; on unemployment insurance; on aid to states so we could prevent more teachers and firefighters and police officers from being laid off. These emergency steps also added to the deficit.”

Obama then went on to make his argument for a “balanced approach,” with tax increases as part of a deal to increase to debt limit.

How Dare Companies Try to Make Money!

Professional food nanny Marion Nestle is hand-wringing again. On her food blog for The Atlantic, Nestle bemoans the decision made by Campbell’s Soup Company to increase the salt content in its soups, after sales slumped when salt was reduced. For Nestle, this is a reason to worry. She says, “As I endlessly repeat, even companies that want to make ‘healthier’ products cannot do it — unless the products sell. If they don’t, forget it.” Well, yes, Ms. Nestle, that’s true. Let me just give you an economics lesson even Contessa Brewer would be proud of: Companies must sell products to stay in business. If they don’t, they go belly up and can no longer sell said products.

Get it, Ms. Nestle? While the Econ 101–challenged Nestle might have trouble with these basic business concepts, regular people get it. They buy products that taste good. Ostensibly due to pressure from nutty food nannies like Nestle, Campbell’s reduced the salt content in its soups. Customers responded with their wallets, choosing to purchase soups from companies that maintained salt content. Campbell’s is reacting to the market and upping the salt in its soups in order to sell more product.

Nadler: ‘We Don’t Have a Deficit Problem Right Now’

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) argued at a news conference with the Congressional Out of Poverty Caucus that the United States does not currently have a budget crisis.

"That’s the real crisis – the unemployment, not the deficit. We don’t have a deficit problem right now. In the long term, we have a deficit problem – we’ve got to get it under control but not right now," said Nadler at the Capitol on Wednesday.

"Right now we’ve got to get unemployment under control. If we got unemployment down to 7 percent, down to 5 percent, which is what it was in 2005, and 2007 rather before the recession hit, if we got it down to 5 percent, half the deficit would be eliminated just by that – half the deficit without cutting a nickel from the budget. So, we have to address the real problem. The real problem is we are not taxing properly."

KGB OPERATION “BARACK OBAMA” by Mikhail Kryzhanovsky

KGB OPERATION “BARACK OBAMA”
by Mikhail Kryzhanovsky

About the author

30 years of international espionage experience
KGB Counterintelligence School
KGB Intelligence Institute
a former KGB intelligence officer
a former KGB “Nabat” anti-terror group sniper
a former SBU (Ukrainian Security Service) illegal intelligence officer
a former CIA/FBI “Filament”
the author of the White House Special Handbook, Algora, New York, 2007
the author of the US National Security System, 2011
unemployed
prof7prof@yahoo.com
347-494-4235
New York

There are no more Democrats and Republicans in America – there are Patriots and Communists. Sorry, I helped Communists, Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, to destroy the country. I still have “carte blanche” to kill anybody to keep White House and Congress under CIA control, and CIA wants me back no matter what.
There’s war between CIA and KGB for the White House. Sorry, my fellow Americans, you don’t elect your President any more – CIA and KGB take care of it.
And there’s coming total collapse of America by 2016.

Part 1 . OSS Operation “President Roosevelt”

October 1995
I discussed with CIA agents Gestapo methods. Actually, I wanted to find Gestapo Chief Mueller who disappeared in May, 1945. CIA agents got very angry :”We don’t recommend you to do this. Stop it !”

I want international Jewish community to ask the White House what does it mean.
Note. “The head of the Jewish section of the Gestapo (IVB) , and the man directly responsible for carrying out the mass extermination program against the Jews by Gestapo, Obersturmannfuerer Eichman , estimated in his report to Himmler that 2,000,000 Jews had been killed by shooting mainly by the Eintzatz Groups. This did not include the estimated 4,000,000 sent by the Gestapo for extermination in annihilation camps – The International Military Tribunal , Nurnberg, 1946, Volume II, Chapter XV, p.282”
June 13, 1942
The Office of Strategic Services was established by a Presidential military order issued by President Roosevelt.
1942 – 1945
Gestapo Chief Heinrich Mueller was recruited and worked for OSS. At OSS order he planned and executed the operation to poison the US President Franklin Roosevelt. He was last seen in the Führerbunker in Berlin on May 1, 1945, the day after Hitler’s suicide. The CIA’s file on Muller was released under the Freedom of Information. Act in 2001, and documents several unsuccessful attempts by U.S. agencies to find Mueller. The U.S. National Archives commentary on the file concludes: “Though inconclusive on Muller’s ultimate fate, the file is very clear on one point. The CIA and its predecessors (OSS) did not know Muller’s whereabouts at any point after the war. The CIA was never in contact with Mueller.”

Going Galt without even knowing it

A blogger named David McElroy recently wrote of a Birmingham (Alabama) businessman who,after listening to a room full of moochers and leeches piss whine and moan about the evils of business, publicly threw in the towel regarding his attempt to open a new coal mine.

David compared what happened to a scene right out of “Atlas Shrugged” and then mused,“But I wonder how long it’s going to be before businesspeople really do start walking away and deciding it’s not worth doing business in America today. Or is it already happening and we just don’t know it?”

Well,David,it’s going on right now all around us and we do in fact know all about it. I have a good friend from high school who was drafted in the Vietnam era,then earned his civil engineering Bachelor of Science degree afterward at N.C. State via the GI Bill. He started his own construction company, and has run it ever since, directly employing dozens of people and spending millions annually on equipment and materials, thereby employing countless others. Until now; until Obama was elected.

The bottom fell out of the economy under Obammunist economic policies,and then Obamacare de-exempted small construction companies from the 50-employee exemption as demanded by the unions so they could kill all non-union construction companies. Well it worked.

Obama to Banks: We're Not Defaulting

While officials from the Obama Administration raised their rhetoric over the weekend about the possibility of a debt default if the debt ceiling isn't raised, they privately have been telling top executives at major U.S. banks that such an event won’t happen, FOX Business has learned.

In a series of phone calls, administration officials have told bankers that the administration will not allow a default to happen even if the debt cap isn't raised by the August 2 date Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner says the government will run out of money to pay all its bills, including obligations to bond holders. Geithner made the rounds on the Sunday talk shows saying a default is imminent if the debt ceiling isn't raised, and President Obama issued a similar warning during a Friday press conference after budget negotiations with House Republicans broke down.

While the negotiations to craft a budget remain at an impasse, Republicans and Democrats on Monday began crafting their own plans to cut spending that could lead to an agreement to raise the debt ceiling. It's unclear if a broad agreement can be reached any time soon, but even if a deal is struck, a complicating issue for lawmakers and the administration is the possibility of a downgrade to the US debt rating, which would cut the triple-A rating on the nation's debt to a lower level.

Is Your IRA Going To Be Raided?

The notion of government raiding personal retirement accounts for funds may seem extreme. Perhaps it shouldn't. Other governments have done it. Argentina did in 2008. Ireland has indicated it might. The worsening financial crisis may eventually move other countries in that direction.

Surely the US would never do so.

Actually, there is little basis for assuming they would not and factual evidence they would. Here are three good reasons to believe they would:

Financial Ratios The US financial ratios are arguably as bad as the weakest countries in Europe. Unlike Europe, the US government has shown no willingness to meaningfully cut government spending and/or balance the budget. Europe has signaled austerity programs, although time will determine whether they adhere to such programs.
Rule of Law All modern governments believe they are above the law. They justify violation of the law on the grounds it is necessary for the "good of the nation." The US government has frequently demonstrated that property rights should not stand in the way of public policy. Abuses of eminent domain are numerous. The automotive bailout was a flagrant example. Not only was the bailout without legal precedent, but US bankruptcy law was violated in order to reward unions at the expense of bondholders.

Among the Tax-takers

I worked for the IRS and survived. I learned about taxpayers, but the really interesting part of it was learning about tax-takers.

We all have this vague notion of people who don't pay taxes but receive money from Uncle Sam in what euphemistically is called a tax refund. That's what I had, a vague notion, until I was forced to close my business in 2010. I took a seasonal job with the Internal Revenue Service to get some household cash flow going. We "Timmy Geithner warriors" were appalled by what we learned.

We generally knew that 47 percent of our population pays no income taxes whatsoever. However, we didn't know, and I suspect that very few of you know, how much of your tax money is actually given to non-taxpayers -- in a lump sum, to do with as they please. Over lunch we joked that half the tattoo parlors in America would go under without Uncle Sam's largesse. Only later I learned that was closer to the truth than a joke.

Obama courts La Raza support at event in midst of “crisis”

In the midst of a fiscal crisis—that his administration claims will lead to Armageddon—President Obama took time out to visit with a key constituency: La Raza, a group many claim is the Mexican version of the KKK.

While the White House continues to hopelessly spin President Barack Obama’s poll free-fall, he made certain to take the time to speak to an audience of La Raza members on Monday.
La Raza (The Race) is a Mexican advocacy group for millions of illegal aliens to receive amnesty at best, a racist organization at worst. It’s accused of being a group with a stated goal of re-conquering the U.S. southwest that they claim was stolen from their ancestors as a result of an imperialist war in 1845.
Obama’s appearance—in the midst of a no-hold-barred fight with the GOP over the debt ceiling— is seen as an obvious maneuver to solidify the Latino vote in the 2012 presidential election. There are those who believe that the Democrats—although quick to deny it—encourage illegal aliens to vote, which is why progressives such as Obama oppose Voter ID legislation.

Friday, July 22, 2011

FEMA Partners with Homeland Security on Psyops Campaign

Birth control coverage proposed for most health insurance plans

Virtually all health insurance plans could soon be required to offer female patients free coverage of prescription birth control, breast-pump rentals, counseling for domestic violence, and annual wellness exams and HIV tests as a result of recommendations released Tuesday by an independent advisory panel of health experts.

The health-care law adopted last year directed the Obama administration to draw up a list of preventive services for women that all new health plans must cover without deductibles or co-payments. While the guidelines suggested Tuesday by a committee of the National Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Medicine are not binding, the panel conducted its year-long review at the request of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

In a statement, Sebelius praised the committee’s work as “historic” and “based on science and existing literature.”

“We are reviewing the report closely and will release the department’s recommendations . . . very soon,” she added.

The Gang of Six Disaster: The Worst Plan So Far

Confusion among congressional Republicans about their objectives in the debt-limit endgame has increased the possibility that they will stumble into a policy and political disaster over the next two weeks.

Only ten days ago, Republicans appeared to regain their footing when House Speaker John Boehner torpedoed the disastrous “grand bargain” that President Obama was offering. That deal would have forced Republicans to accept a massive $1 trillion tax hike and left Obamacare in place. In return, the president offered more centrally planned cuts in Medicare and Medicaid and other minor entitlement adjustments. Some deal.

But now, along comes the Gang of Six plan, and some Republicans are apparently intrigued by it. They shouldn’t be. It’s a terrible, terrible plan. It will hand the president a huge strategic victory and deliver nothing that the GOP should be seeking in this fight. It’s far, far worse than anything we have seen thus far, and certainly much worse than the McConnell plan.

In a nutshell, the Gang of Six plan would have three parts. Let’s look at each part in turn.

Recovery Stalled After Obamacare Passed

Private-sector job creation initially recovered from the recession at a normal rate, leading to predictions last year of a “Recovery Summer.” Since April 2010, however, net private-sector job creation has stalled. Within two months of the passage of Obamacare, the job market stopped improving. This suggests that businesses are not exaggerating when they tell pollsters that the new health care law is holding back hiring. The law significantly raises business costs and creates considerable uncertainty about the future. To encourage hiring, Congress should repeal Obamacare.

Initially Solid Job Growth

The economy is recovering at an unusually slow pace. Typically, employment grows strongly after a severe recession.[1] In the year and a half following the last comparable recession (1981–1982), the unemployment rate fell by 3.3 percentage points.[2]

Initially the economy appeared on track for a steady recovery. In August 2009, the White House projected the unemployment rate would fall to 8 percent by the end of 2011 and 7.5 percent by the end of 2012.[3] This would represent a recovery roughly one-third slower than after the 1981–1982 recession.[4]

Five Falsehoods of the Debt Debate

Incontinent spending put America $14 trillion in debt. The politicians who borrowed and spent us into debt want permission to borrow more so that they can spend more. And if they don’t get permission to borrow more money, they assure us that our debt woes will worsen.

Does this seem like a solution or a rationalization?

Washington is hooked on spending. Like other addicts, politicians tell lies to get their fix. Jonesing for more money, they insist that raising the debt limit is the best way to limit America’s debt.

Bad habits are tough to break. Surely, dishonesty about the problem doesn’t bring us any closer to a solution.

In the spirit of providing clarity through the haze of deceit, here are the five big lies the spending addicts tell to satiate their cravings for more of your money:

Lie #5 Americans Want a Tax Increase
“Eighty percent of the American people support an approach that includes revenues and cuts,” the president claimed Friday. “So the notion that somehow the American people aren’t sold is not the problem. The problem is members of Congress are dug in ideologically into various positions because they boxed themselves in with previous statements.” A poll released the previous day by Rasmussen showed that while a majority of Democrats want a tax increase as part of the deal, just 34 percent of Americans favor one in conjunction with raising the debt ceiling.

A glut of bureaucrats

‘I HAVE never been in banking.” Those words sounded pretty defensive when Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner uttered them two years ago. The financial crisis had left nerves raw, and Damon Silvers, my colleague on the congressional panel watching over the federal bailout, had just referred to Geithner’s supposed banking background. Silvers pushed on, suggesting, ”It was a very long time ago.” The secretary was visibly irritated. “Actually never.” Silvers pressed a third time, as though Geithner were some kind of amnesiac: “Investment banking, I meant.”

It might have been simpler if, from the beginning, Geithner had just shouted out the complete story - “I’m a lifetime bureaucrat!” - and been done with it. (His polite attempts to make the point over the crosstalk fell on deaf ears.) Throughout a distinguished career with the Clinton administration, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Treasury Department, he has been a policy-maker, a regulator, and an overseer. But he has never had to make a business work.

The Global Fairness Madness

Whether in the fights over the U.S. debt limit or the rioting in Athens, the common global theme is not poverty in absolute terms, but more often fairness — as in having about the same amount of things as others do.

Here in America, the months-long impasse over the national-debt ceiling continues. President Bush borrowed nearly $5 trillion in eight years. But President Obama easily trumped even that staggering figure with his plan to borrow over $6 trillion in his first four years in office. The architects of his economic policy — Austan Goolsbee, Peter Orszag, Christina Romer, and Larry Summers — have all resigned, and are now either back in tenured academia, making lots of money in the much-criticized revolving door, or writing op-eds about why the president’s plan isn’t working — or all three.

Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) suffers from incapacitating, stressed-induced migraines, The Daily Caller reports, questioning her fitness to be President.

The report cites multiple sources close to the GOP presidential candidate confirming the condition, and lists multiple hospital stays and trips to urgent care centers for treatment.

"She has terrible migraine headaches. And they put her out of commission for a day or more at a time. They come out of nowhere, and they’re unpredictable,” a Bachmann adviser involved in her 2010 congressional campaign told The Daily Caller.

The Head Of The World's Biggest Hedge Fund Sees "Economic Collapse" Due To Money Printing By Early 2013

As part of its most recent issue the New Yorker has released a must read interview with Ray Dalio - head of the world's biggest hedge fund, Bridgewater. Dalio's fund, which according to some may now be as large as $80 billion, continues to outperform even in this problematic environment, indicating that unlike various other managers who shall remain nameless, and whose wealth is built up almost exclusively on one trade (and that belonging to someone else in the first place), Dalio, despite rumors that he is preparing to leave his current position and is actively seeking a replacement, is still keenly able to adapt to changing macro conditions. Which is why his warning about future rounds of QE, which he sees as a certainty, should be heeded. Especially since it conforms 100% with the warnings of Zero Hedge - Dalio believes that future inevitable money printing will "lead to a collapse in currencies and bond markets." Dalio is even kind enough to give a time frame. "I think late 2012 or early 2013 is going to be another very difficult period." He is, to say the least, quite diplomatic.

From the full interview:

Dalio believes that some heavily indebted countries, including the United States, will eventually opt for printing money as a way to deal with their debts, which will lead to a collapse in their currency and in their bond markets. “There hasn’t been a case in history where they haven’t eventually printed money and devalued their currency,” he said. Other developed countries, particularly those tied to the euro and thus to the European Central Bank, don’t have the option of printing money and are destined to undergo “classic depressions,” Dalio said. The recent deal to avoid an immediate debt default by Greece didn’t alter his pessimistic view. “People concentrate on the particular thing of the moment, and they forget the larger underlying forces,” he said. “That’s what got us into the debt crisis. It’s just today, today.”

Ten Ways Progressive Policies Harm Society's Moral Character

While liberals are certain about the moral superiority of liberal policies, the truth is that those policies actually diminish a society's moral character. Many individual liberals are fine people, but the policies they advocate tend to make a people worse. Here are 10 reasons:

1. The bigger the government, the less the citizens do for one another. If the state will take care of me and my neighbors, why should I? This is why Western Europeans, people who have lived in welfare states far longer than Americans have, give less to charity and volunteer less time to others than do Americans of the same socioeconomic status.

The greatest description of American civilization was written in the early 19th century by the Frenchman Alexis de Tocqueville. One of the differences distinguishing Americans from Europeans that he most marveled at was how much Americans -- through myriad associations -- took care of one another. Until President Franklin Roosevelt began the seemingly inexorable movement of America toward the European welfare state -- vastly expanded later by other Democratic presidents -- Americans took responsibility for one another and for themselves far more than they do today. Churches, Rotary Clubs, free-loan societies and other voluntary associations were ubiquitous. As the state grew, however, all these associations declined. In Western Europe, they have virtually all disappeared.

Egan-Jones Officially Cuts U.S. Credit Rating

Cutting a credit rating is significantly different that placing it on ‘watch’ or ‘under review’.

Most readers are likely fully aware that Standard and Poor’s and Moody’s have sent out serious warning signals about the potential downgrade of the United States AAA credit rating.

That said, another SEC officially recognized ratings entity has gone one step further and actually lowered Uncle Sam’s standing by one notch.

What firm is so bold and brazen to send this volley across Capitol Hill and down Pennsylvania Avenue?

Egan-Jones.

Unlike the supposed brand name rating agencies which did little to help ordinary investors going into our economic crisis, Egan-Jones’ business model differs markedly from the industry incestuous nature of its counterparts. The resulting lack of inherent conflict allows Egan-Jones to speak freely and boldly. What a novel concept.

DON'T MISS THIS!!!!

Coming up on July 25, Monday. Dr. David Cohen. Dr. Cohen is the author of several great books on biblical scholarship and is going to be our guest on Monday, revealing what he has gleaned from ancient Hebrew scripture concerning our day and massive events that will occur THIS YEAR!
You are going to want to put this one on your calendar and be sure to call in with questions.

Here's Dr. Cohen's bio:

David B. Cohen, MD was born and raised in upstate New York as a Jewish Mormon. While his mother is from Ephraim, his father is a literal descendant of Aaron who converted from Orthodox Judaism to Mormonism in Korea during the Korean War. After serving a full-time mission to Japan, Dr. Cohen graduated with honors from Brigham Young University, the University of Utah’s School of Medicine, and the UCLA Jules Stein Eye Institute. Thereafter, he founded and headed Nellis Air Force Base’s ophthalmology division, the Zion Eye Institute in St. George, UT, and the ClearVision Laser Center in Las Vegas, NV. Dr. Cohen’s fervent and unquenchable desire to understand and share the mysteries of the original language and calendar led to his books.

Monday, July 18, 2011

Editorial: No, Americans Don't Want Higher Taxes

Budget: Four of five Americans are "sold" on higher taxes to solve the deficit impasse, according to President Obama. Either he's deceiving himself or he completely misunderstands how the public really feels.

The president on Thursday cited a recent Gallup poll that purportedly shows, in his words, "80% want higher taxes" as part of a deal to slash the deficit. "The American people are sold," he said. "The problem is members of Congress are dug in ideologically."

In fact, a quick look at the polling data referenced by the president shows this isn't true. Not even close.

Gallup itself breaks it out: Those who say they want the deficit reduced "only/mostly with spending cuts" total 50% of those polled. Those who say they'd like it done "only/mostly with tax increases" total 11%. That's not 80%.

Get Ready for a 70% Marginal Tax Rate

President Obama has been using the debt-ceiling debate and bipartisan calls for deficit reduction to demand higher taxes. With unemployment stuck at 9.2% and a vigorous economic "recovery" appearing more and more elusive, his timing couldn't be worse.

Two problems arise when marginal tax rates are raised. First, as college students learn in Econ 101, higher marginal rates cause real economic harm. The combined marginal rate from all taxes is a vital metric, since it heavily influences incentives in the economy—workers and employers, savers and investors base decisions on after-tax returns. Thus tax rates need to be kept as low as possible, on the broadest possible base, consistent with financing necessary government spending.

Second, as tax rates rise, the tax base shrinks and ultimately, as Art Laffer has long argued, tax rates can become so prohibitive that raising them further reduces revenue—not to mention damaging the economy. That is where U.S. tax rates are headed if we do not control spending soon.

Soldiers ordered not to shoot Taliban as they plant mines... 'because it WAKES UP locals'

Soldiers were ordered not to open fire on Taliban fighters planting mines in case they disturb local people, it has been claimed.

U.S. military chiefs ordered troops to exercise 'courageous constraint' and even warned them they could be charged with murder if they shot any Taliban without permission from above.

The claims were made by a former Royal Marine who spoke out following the inquest into the death of Sergeant Peter Rayner last week.

Don't shoot: A former marine says troops were warned they could be charged with murder if they shot Taliban, pictured, without permission from above

At the hearing in Bradford, his widow Wendy Rayner revealed how her husband was blown up days after senior officers had apparently 'laughed off' his complaints that insurgents were being allowed to plant explosive devices unchallenged.

The ice cap in Africa's highest mountain, Mt. ...

There is no statistically significant warming trend since November of 1996 in monthly surface temperature records compiled at the University of East Anglia. Do we now understand why there’s been no change in fourteen and a half years?

If you read the news stories surrounding a recent paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences by Boston University’s Robert Kaufmann and three colleagues, you’d say yes, indeed. It’s China’s fault. By dramatically increasing their combustion of coal, they have increased the concentration of fine particles in the atmosphere called sulphate aerosols, which reflect away solar radiation, countering the warming that should be occurring from increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide.

Further, if this is true, then (as is usual in climate-world), “it’s worse than we thought.” After all, China will eventually reduce their sulfate emissions as their population becomes affluent enough to demand something better than miasmic air. Indeed, they are already beginning to clean things up, and when they finally do, all the cooling particles will be gone and the earth will warm substantially.

Coburn to unveil $9T deficit-reduction plan

Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said Sunday the federal government can save $1 trillion though tax reform, a proposal that will put him at odds with some GOP colleagues.

Coburn plans to unveil a $9 trillion deficit-reduction package Monday that would give lawmakers a menu of policy options to reduce the deficit.

Coburn has suggested $1 trillion in savings could come from eliminating special tax breaks, such as the tax subsidy for ethanol, which he has fought to end.

“We can increase revenues by adjusting the tax code and lowering it,” Coburn said on CBS’s “Face the Nation” Sunday morning. “We can save over $1 trillion doing that.”

Failing Liberty 101

A recent Superman comic book has the hero saying, "I am renouncing my U.S. citizenship" because "truth, justice, and the American way -- it's not enough anymore."

Though not addressing Superman's statement, Stanford University professor and Hoover Institution senior fellow William Damon explains how such a vision could emerge today but not yesteryear. The explanation is found in his article "American Amnesia," in Defining Ideas (7/1/2011), based upon his most recent book, "Failing Liberty 101: How We Are Leaving Young Americans Unprepared for Citizenship in a Free Society."

The National Assessment of Educational Progress reports that only 1 in 4 high-school seniors scored at least "proficient" in knowledge of U.S. citizenship. Civics and history were American students' worst subjects. Professor Damon said that for the past 10 years, his Stanford University research team has interviewed broad cross sections of American youths about U.S. citizenship.

A state of emergency has been declared in the small western Arizona town of Quartzsite after a video of a woman being arrested during a public city council meeting went viral and prompted death threats to council members.

Jennifer "Jade" Jones, a blogger and vocal critic of local government, was delivering remarks during the public comment session of a June 28 city council meeting when she was interrupted.

A video posted on YouTube shows council members interrupting her and asking her to leave or be escorted out.

The mayor of Quartzsite, Ed Foster, is heard telling officers to leave Jones alone. "Officer, that woman has the floor you are violating my rules of order," says Foster.


.	Avg '04	Avg '08	Growth '04-'08	% Chg	2009 Net Worth


.
.	41 Democrats
.	Gutierrez, Luis V (D-Ill)	$47,503	$1,790,508	$1,743,005	3,669	$2,358,005
.	Scott, David (D-Ga)	$107,262	$3,008,001	$2,900,739	2,704	$3,758,001
.	Sanchez, Loretta (D-Calif)	$196,505	$2,547,501	$2,350,996	1,196	$2,474,001
.	Sanchez, Linda (D-Calif)	-$32,500	$342,500	$375,000	1,154	$751,010
.	Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (D-SD)	-$112,000	$1,152,510	$1,264,510	1,129	$1,332,853
.	Obama, Barack	$300,002	$3,670,505	$3,370,503	1,124	$4,960,505
.	Feingold, Russ (D-Wis)	$8,000	$83,501	$75,501	944	$83,001
.	Hinchey, Maurice (D-NY)	$74,002	$727,509	$653,507	883	$743,508
.	Eshoo, Anna (D-Calif)	-$385,996	$1,508,003	$1,893,999	491	$1,683,503
.	McGovern, James P (D-Mass)	$474,002	$2,673,503	$2,199,501	464	$2,330,503
.	Cummings, Elijah E (D-Md)	$175,000	$887,506	$712,506	407	$887,506
.	Harkin, Tom (D-Iowa)	$2,647,019	$13,373,057	$10,726,038	405	$16,764,563
.	Conyers, John Jr (D-Mich)	$1,501	$7,500	$5,999	400	$0
.	Faleomavaega, Eni F H (D-AS)	$77,007	$338,505	$261,498	340	$48,004
.	Taylor, Gene (D-Miss)	-$32,500	$75,000	$107,500	331	$32,500
.	Jackson Lee, Sheila (D-Texas)	$159,005	$615,506	$456,501	287	$27,004
.	Costa, Jim (D-Calif)	$851,003	$3,073,002	$2,221,999	261	$2,881,002
.	Wyden, Ron (D-Ore)	$1,472,005	$4,817,513	$3,345,508	227	$6,246,019


.	Christian-Christensen, Donna (D-VI)	$205,500	$625,501	$420,001	204	$518,000
.	Bordallo, Madeleine Z (D-Guam)	$1,523,003	$4,565,002	$3,041,999	200	$4,916,003
.	Kanjorski, Paul E (D-Pa)	$1,464,505	$4,356,505	$2,892,000	198	$4,356,505
.	Spratt, John M Jr (D-SC)	$6,801,008	$19,543,006	$12,741,998	187	$22,443,507
.	Watson, Diane E (D-Calif)	$48,501	$135,502	$87,001	179	$111,002
.	Towns, Edolphus (D-NY)	-$269,497	$210,007	$479,504	178	$214,506
.	Dodd, Chris (D-Conn)	$411,004	$1,139,508	$728,504	177	$1,498,509
.	Dicks, Norm (D-Wash)	$261,504	$720,504	$459,000	176	$698,003
.	Berman, Howard L (D-Calif)	$498,024	$1,367,020	$868,996	175	$1,082,547
.	Visclosky, Pete (D-Ind)	$390,509	$1,064,511	$674,002	173	$1,107,012
.	Higgins, Brian M (D-NY)	-$250,001	$170,505	$420,506	168	$170,505
.	Brown, Corrine (D-Fla)	-$43,999	$28,001	$72,000	164	$3,501
.	Schakowsky, Jan (D-Ill)	$71,008	$181,512	$110,504	156	$188,511
.	Boren, Dan (D-Okla)	$591,502	$1,479,007	$887,505	150	$1,002,507
.	Stark, Pete (D-Calif)	-$9,499,988	$4,295,508	$13,795,496	145	-$11,542,496
.	Miller, Brad (D-NC)	-$462,997	$197,510	$660,507	143	$210,015
.	Clyburn, James E (D-SC)	$165,504	$397,505	$232,001	140	$397,005
.	Israel, Steve (D-NY)	-$104,000	$32,500	$136,500	131	$0
.	Kennedy, Patrick J (D-RI)	$91,001	$207,501	$116,500	128	$18,107,502
.	Dorgan, Byron L (D-ND)	$289,011	$633,517	$344,506	119	$765,019


.	Brady, Robert A (D-Pa)	$799,005	$1,641,004	$841,999	105	$391,504
.	Ortiz, Solomon P (D-Texas)	$773,003	$1,563,006	$790,003	102	$1,323,004
.	Kildee, Dale E (D-Mich)	$239,503	$481,004	$241,501	101	$296,504
.
.	Totals for 41 Democrats	$10,019,433	$85,726,776	$75,707,343	756%	$95,620,163
.
.		Avg '04	Avg '08	Growth	% Change	2009 Net Worth
.	39 Republicans
.	LaTourette, Steven C (R-Ohio)	-$4,499	$590,502	$595,001	13,225	$790,502
.	Chambliss, Saxby (R-Ga)	$16,001	$304,504	$288,503	1,803	$297,003
.	Putnam, Adam H (R-Fla)	$724,510	$6,716,513	$5,992,003	1,754	$6,453,513
.	McMorris Rodgers, Cathy (R-Wash)	$106,504	$1,423,013	$1,316,509	1,236	$1,330,509
.	Pence, Mike (R-Ind)	$13,002	$158,007	$145,005	1,115	$90,007
.	Rohrabacher, Dana (R-Calif)	$42,222	$463,504	$421,282	998	$342,499
.	Culberson, John (R-Texas)	-$45,000	$337,501	$382,501	850	$337,501
.	Inglis, Bob (R-SC)	$73,001	$571,513	$498,512	683	$448,002
.	Mack, Connie (R-Fla)	-$242,000	$1,181,536	$1,423,536	588	$1,287,536
.	Davis, Geoff (R-Ky)	-$19,995	$73,001	$92,996	465	$73,001
.	McConnell, Mitch (R-Ky)	$3,072,514	$16,979,018	$13,906,504	453	$19,929,018
.	Wicker, Roger (R-Miss)	$282,005	$1,526,508	$1,244,503	441	$660,513


.	Thornberry, Mac (R-Texas)	$83,500	$391,001	$307,501	368	$391,001
.	Shadegg, John (R-Ariz)	-$4,999	$12,501	$17,500	350	$12,501
.	Ros-Lehtinen, Ileana (R-Fla)	$197,006	$874,005	$676,999	344	$957,504
.	Ensign, John (R-Nev)	$1,041,795	$4,400,795	$3,359,000	322	$4,054,202
.	Diaz-Balart, Lincoln (R-Fla)	$48,003	$172,005	$124,002	258	$155,504
.	Poe, Ted (R-Texas)	$26,502	$88,504	$62,002	234	$112,505
.	Graham, Lindsey (R-SC)	$262,510	$801,009	$538,499	205	$834,812
.	Myrick, Sue (R-NC)	$107,501	$306,003	$198,502	185	$121,503
.	Sullivan, John (R-Okla)	$65,001	$183,001	$118,000	182	$383,000
.	Blunt, Roy (R-Mo)	$223,003	$601,509	$378,506	170	$765,009
.	Enzi, Mike (R-Wyo)	$518,011	$1,394,535	$876,524	169	$1,692,536
.	Sessions, Pete (R-Texas)	$894,526	$2,407,019	$1,512,493	169	$3,494,523
.	Barrett, Gresham (R-SC)	$1,004,004	$2,635,520	$1,631,516	163	$2,536,518
.	Murkowski, Lisa (R-Alaska)	$516,515	$1,344,019	$827,504	160	$1,366,020
.	Lucas, Frank D (R-Okla)	$403,004	$1,022,502	$619,498	154	$1,010,502
.	Royce, Ed (R-Calif)	$121,004	$291,002	$169,998	141	$315,004
.	Gohmert, Louis B Jr (R-Texas)	-$110,001	-$250,001	-$140,000	127	$150,001
.	Forbes, J Randy (R-Va)	$441,901	$999,381	$557,480	126	$805,480
.	Wilson, Joe (R-SC)	-$348,500	$78,515	$427,015	123	$696,003
.	Bishop, Rob (R-Utah)	-$16,499	$3,501	$20,000	121	$8,501


.	Burr, Richard (R-NC)	$506,011	$1,098,744	$592,733	117	$1,375,888
.	Diaz-Balart, Mario (R-Fla)	-$65,001	$8,000	$73,001	112	$32,500
.	Collins, Susan M (R-Maine)	$196,503	$410,005	$213,502	109	$205,002
.	Garrett, Scott (R-NJ)	$97,501	$202,505	$105,004	108	$338,005
.	Barton, Joe (R-Texas)	$39,502	$81,002	$41,500	105	$81,002
.	McCaul, Michael (R-Texas)	$34,176,566	$69,619,248	$35,442,682	104	$137,611,043
.	Aderholt, Robert B (R-Ala)	$780,510	$1,566,011	$785,501	101	$3,927,511
.
.	Totals for 39 Republicans	$45,223,644	$121,066,961	$75,843,317	168%	$195,473,184
.
.	Total Net Worth For These 80 in '09					% Increase 08-09
.	$291,093,347					41%
.
.	Total $ Increase From '04-'08
.	$151,550,660

Barack 'No Drama' Obama makes a stand on debt and finally loses his cool

He walked out of a meeting with Republican congressional leaders on deficit reduction, telling them "enough was enough".

It was the fourth such meeting in as many days to end fruitlessly, and the president's mounting frustration had been clear.

In a press conference on Monday he ruled out a temporary agreement on raising the US debt limit, insisting "we might as well do it now – pull off the Band-Aid, eat our peas".

Corporate jet tax hike hits ailing plane makers

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama aims at corporate fat cats when he calls for a tax increase on companies that own private jets. But he hits an American manufacturing industry that is just starting to show life after years of slumping sales and thousands of job losses.

Most business aircraft are made in America, and the companies and unions that produce them don't appreciate the president's rhetoric or his plan to raise taxes on private jet owners. They fear that both will hurt sales, costing them even more jobs.

"I think it's just insulting," said Steve Rooney, president of District 70 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers in Wichita, Kan. "He acts like it is just a luxury for somebody to own a business jet when they're used as tools. And I don't think he realizes how many people that this industry employs and how much revenue is brought in here from those types of aircraft."

Obama's proposal would scale back a tax break enjoyed by the private jet owners but not by commercial airlines. The administration has acknowledged it is more symbolic than substantive: The tax increase would raise $3 billion over the next decade, but that's a tiny fraction of the $4 trillion in deficit reductions that economists say are needed to put the government and U.S. economy on sound footing.

5 Signs Of American Decadence

"In a free society, government reflects the soul of its people. If people want change at the top, they will have to live in different ways. Our major social problems are not the cause of our decadence. They are a reflection of it." -- Cal Thomas

You've undoubtedly heard the old wives’ tale about frogs and boiling water. If you toss a frog into boiling water, he'll immediately jump out -- but supposedly, if you increase the temperature just a bit at a time, the frog will sit comfortably in the water until he's cooked alive. Is that true? No. However, if you apply that story to the way that human beings behave, there's a lot of truth to it. The world is extraordinarily complex and human beings are remarkably adaptable; so it's entirely possible that if changes are incremental enough, people will adjust to "the way the world is" without truly examining the size of the shift that's changed their world.

In the last few decades, our country has spiraled downward into decadence in ways that are genuinely threatening the continuance of the American Dream.

1) Our legal system is broken: There's nothing just about our legal system anymore. Liberals have pushed the idea of a "living constitution," which means nothing more than implementing left-wing policies and calling it constitutional law. Every constitutional case is now decided by the number of judges who still believe in the Constitution that happen to be on the bench for the trial. Laws are no longer applied equally either. If the people running the government don't like certain laws, say against illegal immigration, they simply refuse to enforce it.

Jobless man offers hunters human prey

It’s tough finding even an odd job these days.

You'll have to be a good shot to bag this wily woodsman.

That’s why Utah-area resident Mork Encino, who swears this is his real name, created the oddest job for himself.

Encino, 28, on his website, advertises he’ll be human prey for marksmen with $10,000 to spare.

It’ll cost you an extra $2k to hunt him in the nude.

He’s not worried about the steep price driving off customers.

“I’m looking for a true god[bleep] Money Bags, okay? 10K is nothing to these boys. They leave tips on restaurant checks like that. They drop that type of scratch just because. They’ll pay that money just to rub it in my FACE and show me how meaningless it truly is to the likes of them,” he writes on huntme4sport.com.

On Twitter, Encino says he’s “pro prey looking for a change,” but admits he’s not willing to die for the cash. Instead, he wants the website, which he calls “a product of my desperation,” to land him a normal job.

Fact Check: Obama wrong on Social Security

At Monday’s debt limit press conference, President Obama claimed: “With respect to Social Security, Social Security is not the source of our deficit problems.” This is simply false. The Social Security Board of Trustees 2011 Annual Report found that Social Security added $49 billion to last year’s budget deficit and is projected to add another $46 billion to this year’s deficit.

FactCheck.org fact checked a similar claim by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., earlier this year. Their conclusion:

As always, we take no position on whether Social Security should be changed, either to reduce the deficit or to shore up its troubled finances for future generations. Our job here is simply to establish facts and hold politicians accountable for any misinformation.

How We Balanced the Budget Last Time

President Obama and the Democrats argue that any debt limit deal to reduce federal deficits and debt needs to be balanced between spending reductions and tax increases. But as I show in my new book, "America’s Ticking Bankruptcy Bomb," that is not how we did it the last time we balanced the budget, in the 1990s.

The Republican congressional majorities elected in 1994 were greeted in February, 1995 with then President Clinton’s new budget projecting continued federal deficits of $200 billion or more indefinitely into the future. The ensuing government shutdown battles ended with budget policies that cut both taxes and spending.

Republican congressional majorities, led by then House Speaker Newt Gingrich, enacted the largest capital gains tax cut in U.S. history, slashing the rate by 40% from 28% to 20%. Along with some other tax cuts on capital, that helped to promote an economic boom that produced surging revenues.

Help me, I'm starving to death. Six stone woman with paralysed stomach is refused life-saving operation

A young woman who is starving to death after being diagnosed with a paralysed stomach has been told that NHS bosses refuse to fund an operation to save her.

Rudi Hargreaves, 22, has shrunk from a healthy 10st to a skeletal 5st 10lb after being diagnosed with the crippling condition last year.

Within weeks of being diagnosed with gastroparesis, Rudi found her size 12 clothes were hanging off her - as her stomach became unable to digest food at a normal rate.

People think I'm anorexic: Rudi was diagnosed with a paralysed stomach and is appealing a decision by her PCT not to fund a pacemaker

The condition can be treated with a £14,000 operation to fit a gastric pacemaker - although this is still considered to be an experimental treatment.

California companies, including PayPal, have been expanding or relocating outside the Golden State. PayPal recently opened a facility in Arizona.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney) -- Buffeted by high taxes, strict regulations and uncertain state budgets, a growing number of California companies are seeking friendlier business environments outside of the Golden State.

And governors around the country, smelling blood in the water, have stepped up their courtship of California companies. Officials in states like Florida, Texas, Arizona and Utah are telling California firms how business-friendly they are in comparison.

Companies are "disinvesting" in California at a rate five times greater than just two years ago, said Joseph Vranich, a business relocation expert based in Irvine. This includes leaving altogether, establishing divisions elsewhere or opting not to set up shop in California.

"There is a feeling that the state is not stable," Vranich said. "Sacramento can't get its act together...and that includes the governor, legislators and regulatory agencies that are running wild."

Gore Launches ‘Climate Reality Project,‘ Asks People to ’Reject Mistruths‘ About ’Climate Crisis’

Former vice-president Al Gore is back with a new global warming campaign. This morning, he announced the launch of “The Climate Reality Project,“ an initiative he claims is intended to ”…broadcast the reality of the climate crisis.”

In a brief article for the Huffington Post, he laments “extreme weather” and claims that companies are using big tobacco’s “deceitful playbook” in an intentional effort to mislead the public:

They have nearly unlimited resources to sow doubt, but we have one critical advantage: Reality is on our side…

This campaign is called The Climate Reality Project. We will invite people to discover for themselves the truth about climate change for themselves, and reject the mistruths they hear every day.

The campaign will begin with a large-scale, global event called “24 Hours of Reality.” This happening, scheduled for September 14-15, will be presented in numerous languages and in 24 time zones. Below, watch Gore’s introductory video that further explains the initiative:

The Climate Reality web site has more information about the launch event:

Global Warming: A Primer

The Science and Environmental Policy Project is one of the leading sources of realist research and analysis on climate change. It produces a weekly compilation of news and research on global warming which you can sign up to receive via email. SEPP was founded by Fred Singer, one of the leading realist scientists. For a great short summary of the current status of the climate debate, which rages hotter than ever before, see this presentation which Dr. Singer will deliver in Sicily next month. It covers in incisive fashion the most significant aspects of the debate. For a full picture, read it all. Here are a few excerpts.

Dr. Singer points out that the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the supposed authority on which pretty much all global warming alarmism relies, has changed its approach to the topic in each of its reports:

The IPCC has wavered on methodology. Their Frst Assessment Report (FAR–1990) simply pointed out that both GH gases and temperatures have increased but paid little attention to the long cooling period (from 1940 to 1975). Their Second Report (SAR–1996) tried to show that observed patterns of warming trends (“fingerprints”) agreed with calculated patterns. Their Third Report (TAR–2001) simply claimed that the 20th century was the warmest in 1000 years (as if this proves anything). The fourth report (AR4– 2007) basically said: We understand all natural forcings – so everything else must be anthropogenic.

Economic Vision, Part 3: A fairer tax

Paying taxes is a fact of life, because there are certain things that our federal government must provide as enumerated in the Constitution. But paying taxes does not have to be unfair, burdensome and costly. Our current system of taxation is all three, and it got that way little by little over time since 1913.

The Fair Tax (H.R. 25) is a fairer tax because it is just the opposite. It is fair because the consumer determines their taxes based on their purchase behavior instead of being determined by the government based on one’s capacity to produce. Our production is measured in terms of personal income and business profits.

The Fair Tax is a one-time one-point national sales tax on new goods and services. It is not collected on wholesale purchases, but rather, it is collected on retail purchases when the consumer consumes, and not when the consumer or business produces. This is totally consistent with Economic Guiding Principle #1 as described in Cain’s Economic Vision Part 1.

The Fair Tax is also fair because everybody pays the same consumption rate of 23 percent. Liberals hate that concept because it does not give them a tool to redistribute the income of others as with the current tax code. The rate is revenue-neutral and replaces all federal income and payroll taxes.

'Dreamers' and the illegal nightmare

Presently there are two examples of liberal contradiction evidenced in relation to two separate issues involving illegal immigrants. One situation has to do with an execution in Texas, under the auspices of Republican Governor Rick Perry; and the other is in Washington DC, overseen by the likes of Senator Dick 'Dream-Act' Durbin (D-IL) and driven by the President Obama's goal to grant creeping amnesty to undocumented immigrants.

Recently in Washington DC, illegals felt comfortable enough coming out of the shadows to hear Dick Durbin tell a Senate Judiciary subcommittee that people who are in essence guilty of a criminal offense are "America's future," and to encourage those who are not natural born citizens to aspire to the position of president of the United States.

Either the esteemed senator needs a crash course in the Constitution, or Durbin, like President Obama, feels the document is flawed and in need of amendment readjustment. Like most liberals, depending on the outcome desired, Durbin may believe the nation's founding document is in continual flux and open to revision according to need.