Obama continues Bush's Big Government ways, but conservatives are regaining their sanity

(Takimag) -- During last year’s Republican National Convention, South Carolina GOP leaders were regularly calling in to WTMA talk radio in Charleston to provide event coverage. On the day they were supposed to talk to me, I was informed that Republican Party officials did not wish to speak to Jack Hunter. In denouncing big government and all its works, I never saw any reason to make special exceptions for Republicans and for my anti-GOP sins I had become persona non grata. Today, everyone is denouncing big government. Since Obama’s election, tea party protests have sprung up across the country and conservatives are now rallying loud and clear against Washington spending. But liberal politicians and pundits who are calling conservative activists “crazy,” or to borrow MSNBC host Chris Matthew’s phrase “wingnuts,” have it exactly backwards. It was crazy that anyone who might claim the label “conservative” would also claim the Republican Party of George W. Bush. Conservatives haven’t lost their sanity—they’ve regained it.

In the meantime, the Left has gone completely nuts. Worshipping a president who promised “change,” liberals continue to ignore that little has. On foreign policy - the Left’s primary gripe against Bush—Obama’s war mentality is remarkably similar to his predecessor. In drawing down in Iraq, Obama has simply transferred massive US presence to Afghanistan. Controversial war on terror-era measures like the PATRIOT Act, extraordinary rendition and warrantless wiretapping remain intact. Notes observant liberal Noam Chomsky “As Obama came into office, (former Secretary of State) Condoleezza Rice predicted he would follow the policies of Bush’s second term, and that is pretty much what happened, apart from a different rhetorical style.”...Cont'd...LINK

Tea-partiers guilty of racism, or suffering from Obama buyer's remorse? Clueless MSNBC claims to know

(Takimag) -- ...It is one thing for a starlet like Janeane Garofalo to defame tea party attendees as “a bunch of teabagging rednecks,” and accuse men and women she knows nothing about of “hating a black man in the White House” and harboring unadulterated racism. It’s quite another for cable-network anchors to parrot the loopy lady’s lines. Nevertheless, ape they did. So it was that thought-crime investigator Keith Olbermann broke news on his MSNBC nightly show. With his most solemn, commissar-like countenance, Keith informed his viewers, matter-of-fact, that the intensity of the animosity toward Barack Obama is based on his being a black man. Instead of arguing their “case” with reference to facts and reason, Keith and Company chose to impugn their disputants based on assumptions about their motives.

Still worse: this balderdash, framed as breaking-news, was bolstered by another logical fallacy: an argument from authority. The feeble-minded Jimmy Carter had seconded Garofalo the histrion. By Keith’s journalistic standards, this was all the proof he needed to pronounce the libel true, and apply the pejorative liberally. Olbermann proceeded to “debate” this ad hominem with the effeminate, bug-eyed blogger Markos Moulitsas, and before him with politician-turned-pundit, Lawrence O’Donnell. The shifty and shameless O’Donnell asserted in all seriousness that because Carter had claimed that conservative and independent tea-party goers were guilty of harboring and acting on racially impure thoughts, this was indeed so. After all, the former president was from the dreaded South! He ought to know! At the time Obama ascended to the throne his approval ratings ran to 70 percent. Carter, Keith, Chris (Matthews), and Contessa (Brewer) were asking their viewers to believe that between March and September of 2009, the aforementioned Americans had developed a bad case of racism rather than buyer’s remorse...Cont'd...LINK

Delusional Goldman Sachs chief says he's doing "God's work," greedy bankster swindlers behind economic meltdown destined to "lead us out"

(Daily Express) -- THE head of the world’s most powerful bank yesterday claimed he was doing “God’s work”. Goldman Sachs boss Lloyd Blankfein said “everybody should be happy” about a return to big profits and bumper bonuses at banks because it meant the global economy was recovering. Just months after taxpayers bailed out banks, Goldman Sachs could have £12billion to lavish on wages and bonuses this year. Mr Blankfein said: “We help companies to grow by helping them raise capital. Companies that grow create wealth. This, in turn, allows people to have jobs that create more wealth. We have a social purpose.” His words will enrage critics, who blame reckless bankers for causing the worst recession since the Great Depression. They will also anger religious leaders, who have long argued that bankers’ fat pay packets and bonuses are immoral. But Mr Blankfein said that limiting bankers’ pay would harm the financial system. “I don’t want to put a cap on their ambition. The financial system may have led us into crisis but it will lead us out.”...LINK

Plutocracy: Only one percent of all Americans millionaires, but astounding 44 percent of Congress

(Politico) -- Talk about bad timing. As Washington reels from the news of 10.2 percent unemployment, the Center for Responsive Politics is out with a new report describing the wealth of members of Congress. Among the highlights: Two-hundred-and-thirty-seven members of Congress are millionaires. That’s 44 percent of the body – compared to about 1 percent of Americans overall. CRP says California Republican Rep. Darrell Issa is the richest lawmaker on Capitol Hill, with a net worth estimated at about $251 million. Next in line: Rep. Jane Harman (D-Calif.), worth about $244.7 million; Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.), worth about $214.5 million; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.), worth about $209.7 million; and Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), worth about $208.8 million. All told, at least seven lawmakers have net worths greater than $100 million, according to the Center’s 2008 figures...

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) gained about $9.2 million. Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) gained about $3 million, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii) had an estimated $2.6 million gain, and Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) gained about $2.8 million. Some lawmakers have profited from investments in companies that have received federal bailouts; dozens of lawmakers are invested in Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Bank of America. Among executive branch officials, CRP says the richest is Securities and Exchange Commission Chairwoman Mary L. Schapiro, with a net worth estimated at $26 million. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is next, worth an estimated $21 million. President Barack Obama is the sixth-wealthiest, worth about an estimated $4 million...Cont'd...LINK

Unofficial Obama economic adviser Warren Buffet owns huge stakes in banks that have received hundreds of billions in TARP funds and debt guarantees

American debt servitude: The money being sold by Wall Street and Washington to foreign governments is YOU

Homegrown terrorism from the Left? Suspect in bombing, Seattle police assassination was UW grad in minority studies on a mission

(Seattle Times) -- While a massive memorial service for slain Officer Timothy Brenton neared its finish at KeyArena on Friday afternoon, fellow officers with the Seattle Police Department shot a man they believe to be responsible for Brenton's death...Law-enforcement sources said Monfort also is suspected of the Oct. 22 bombing and arson of a Seattle maintenance yard, where three police cars and an RV used as a mobile precinct were damaged. Before Monfort was identified, police found distinct evidence that leads them to believe the same person was involved in that crime and the Brenton shooting, sources said. A note threatening to kill police officers was left at the bombing site, according to sources. One source described the note as containing a general threat against police officers. News reports at the time said fliers were left at the maintenance yard referring to an anti-police-brutality rally and citing the case of a King County sheriff's deputy accused of assaulting a teenage girl in a SeaTac holding cell...

Last year, Monfort belonged to the McNair Scholars Program, part of the university's office of Minority Affairs and Diversity. The program aims to steep undergraduate students in sophisticated research, preparing them for graduate work. Monfort provided this title for his project with the McNair program: "The Power of Citizenship Your Government Doesn't Want You to Know About: How to Change the Inequity of the Criminal Justice System Immediately, Through Active Citizen Nullification of Laws, As a Juror." In an abstract of his project, Monfort said he planned to "illuminate and further" the scholarship of Paul Butler, a law professor at George Washington University. Butler is a proponent of jury nullification, a controversial principle whereby jurors feel free to disregard a judge's instructions and acquit a defendant no matter the strength of the evidence...Cont'd...LINK

Is money-worship killing Western civilization? Greed-driven consumer-culture products chemically emasculating young males

(Telegraph) -- Here's something rather rotten from the State of Denmark. Its government yesterday unveiled official research showing that two-year-old children are at risk from a bewildering array of gender-bending chemicals in such everyday items as waterproof clothes, rubber boots, bed linen, food, nappies, sunscreen lotion and moisturising cream. The 326-page report, published by the environment protection agency, is the latest piece in an increasingly alarming jigsaw. A picture is emerging of ubiquitous chemical contamination driving down sperm counts and feminising male children all over the developed world. And anti-pollution measures and regulations are falling far short of getting to grips with it...

Yet gender-benders are largely exempt from new EU regulations controlling hazardous chemicals. Britain, then under Tony Blair's premiership, was largely responsible for this – restricting their inclusion in the first draft of the legislation, and then causing even what was included to be watered down.Confidential documents show that it did so after pressure from George W Bush's administration, which protested that US exports "could be impacted"...Cont'd...LINK

Digging deeper: media-buried U.S. Department of Labor statistic show real unemployment rate is 17.5%

(United States Department of Labor) -- ...October, 2009...U-6 Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers...17.5 [percent]

NOTE: Marginally attached workers are persons who currently are neither working nor looking for work but indicate that they want and are available for a job and have looked for work sometime in the recent past. Discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached, have given a job-market related reason for not looking currently for a job. Persons employed part time for economic reasons are those who want and are available for full-time work but have had to settle for a part-time schedule...Cont'd...LINK

From FDR to Bush, in times of crisis, left-liberal media defer to government authority like trained monkeys

(LewRockwell.com) -- Why do politicians so easily get away with telling lies? In large part, because the news media are more interested in bonding with politicians than in exposing them. Americans are encouraged to believe that the media will serve as a check and a balance on the government. Instead, the press too often volunteer as unpaid pimps, helping politicians deceive the public. In 1936, New York Times White House correspondent Turner Catledge said that President Roosevelt’s “first instinct was always to lie.” But the Washington press corps covered up Roosevelt’s dishonesty almost as thoroughly as they hid his use of a wheelchair in daily life...Deference to the government is now the trademark of the American media – at least at times when the truth could have the greatest impact. The media were grossly negligent in failing to question or examine Bush’s claims on the road to war. When journalists dug up the truth, editors sometimes ignored or buried their reports. Washington Post Pentagon correspondent Thomas Ricks complained that, in the lead-up to the U.S. invasion of Iraq, “There was an attitude among editors: ‘Look, we’re going to war; why do we even worry about all this contrary stuff?’” New York Times White House correspondent Elisabeth Bumiller explained the press’s conduct at a Bush press conference just before he invaded Iraq: “I think we were very deferential because ... nobody wanted to get into an argument with the president at this very serious time.”...Cont'd...LINK

State-directed during housing bubble inflation, today's state-run Fannie Mae needs billions more in bailout funds since Government takover

(Courier Mail) -- ...The state-controlled Fannie Mae reported a net loss of $US18.9 billion ($A20.74 billion) in the third quarter on Thursday, 35 per cent smaller than a year ago but sharply higher than its $US14.8 billion ($A16.24 billion) loss in the second quarter...Fannie Mae said that, at the end of the third quarter, the company was in the hole for $US15 billion ($A16.46 billion) and, as a result, had turned to the Treasury Department on Wednesday to seek public funds to keep it operating. "The acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency submitted a request for $US15.0 billion dollars from Treasury on the company's behalf. FHFA has requested that Treasury provide the funds on or prior to December 31." Fannie Mae and its fellow state-controlled mortgage lender Freddie Mac have already received hundreds of billions of dollars as part of a Government takeover aimed at avoiding their collapse in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis...LINK

The priorities of political correctness: For Obama, "shout-out" to Dr. Joe Medicine Crow comes before sympathy to soldiers and families

(NBC Chickago) -- ...After news broke out of the shooting at the Fort Hood Army post in Texas, the nation watched in horror as the toll of dead and injured climbed. The White House was notified immediately and by late afternoon, word went out that the president would speak about the incident prior to a previously scheduled appearance. At about 5 p.m., cable stations went to the president. The situation called for not only his trademark eloquence, but also grace and perspective.

But instead of a somber chief executive offering reassuring words and expressions of sympathy and compassion, viewers saw a wildly disconnected and inappropriately light president making introductory remarks. At the event, a Tribal Nations Conference hosted by the Department of Interior's Bureau of Indian affairs, the president thanked various staffers and offered a "shout-out" to "Dr. Joe Medicine Crow -- that Congressional Medal of Honor winner." Three minutes in, the president spoke about the shooting, in measured and appropriate terms. Who is advising him?...Cont'd...LINK

LET Bar & Grill, Fort Hood, TX

Buchanan: If we're about to abandon these people, we owe them some truth

(TakiMag) -- ..."In this world it is often dangerous to be an enemy of the United States, but to be a friend is fatal,” said Henry Kissinger. The army of South Vietnam and the Saigon government, the boat people of the South China Sea and the million victims of Pol Pot’s genocide can testify to that before the judgment seat of history

Thus the daily attacks on Afghan President Hamid Karzai—who sat beside Laura Bush as guest of honor at the 2002 State of the Union and got a standing ovation—as the corrupt ruler of a corrupt regime, whose brother, a narcotics trafficker, has been on the CIA’s payroll, seems a signal that the ritual is about to begin. The Karzai brothers should probably read up on the fate of the Diem brothers. Yet never has an ally been more egregiously insulted in wartime than Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s insulting of the Pakistanis on her “fence-mending” trip last week. In a meeting with editors, Hillary was asked why the United States was focusing its Predator strikes in the war on terror so heavily upon Pakistan. Said Hillary, “Al-Qaida has had safe haven in Pakistan since 2002. ... I find it hard to believe that nobody in your government knows where they are and couldn’t get them if they really wanted to.” This is charging the Pakistani government, army and intelligence services with cowardice or collusion with bin Laden and al-Qaida in the war on terror. That it was made within hours of the bloodiest in a long series of terror attacks that have killed hundreds of Pakistanis only magnifies the insult...

And if we are going to abandon these people, as we have so many others in the past, let us at least tell them, and ourselves, the truth. We didn’t know what we were getting into. We don’t have the stomach for a long war. We’re sorry we got you into this. Your big mistake was in trusting us. You folks should have known better...LINK
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Libertarian Today editor’s note: No honor, no loyalty, no principles beyond the quest for money, power and secular authoritarianism…that’s what the Bushcons, the Neocons, and the two-party establishment that lied America into its current Middle East quagmire are all about; and that’s what Neolibs Hillary, Obama, Emanuel and Axelrod are all about as well. And now that the blundering giant has drunkenly rampaged through the Mideast for years on end to no avail, it is finally sobering and backing for the door.

With successive generations of leadership like this, Americans wonder why the boor will soon be returning home to a country that increasingly resembles a broken down toilet? -- Chris Moore

Can Rand Paul and the Campaign for Liberty keep the corrupt Neocons from co-opting and destroying the latest surge of American populism?

(The American Conservative) ...My online collegue Matthew Roberts asked were the neocons trying to co-opt the “Tea Party” movement to which I replied: “Don’t they always?”...

The establishment Republicans and establishment right know how to use the populism of Middle American Radicals [MARs] for their own ends as they showed last night. They’ve also showed how they use their patriotism and their money as well over the years. Hopefully, before this new movement of MAR populism is turned into just another racket, or a failed party or an email list, such persons can figure out on their own how to use their populism and activism for their own interests instead of the powers that be.

One small ray hope was the fact such MARs were willing to buck the party establishment in NY-23 for a non-major party like the Conservatives. There hasn’t been much interest in non-major parties by MARs in a decade with everything being subordinated to the whims of the GOP (I remember old JimRob at Not-So-Free Republic basically calling anyone who voted for a non-major party instead of the GOP a traitor in the early part of the decade). What made the this by-election so interesting was the way so many GOP politicans ditched their own party as well to support Hoffman and the way the party establishment ditched their own candidate so fast in order to jump on his bandwagon. That was unheard of in a party that prized loyalty and unity so much one couldn’t help but compare it to the Bolsheviks. Now after Tuesday the politicians may be reluctant to do this again, and Conservative Inc. may just stick with party primaries, but at least that seed has been planted in the minds of MARs that there are alternatives one can use practically to alter the political landscape.

Of course such movements by their definition are leaderless and can veer off the road or follow pied pipers without directions from candidates and politicals figures with their best interests at heart. Thankfully there is one such candidate MARs can support and that’s Rand Paul and he’s showing himself to be quite capable of such leadership as he now leads in polls over Republican primary opponent Trey Grayson in Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat. If Rand Paul and or the Campaign for Liberty is successful in creating a political framework for MARs to use to deal with their greivences, then they can truly be independent...LINK

Budowsky: The fix is in. The word is out. The jig is up. The voters are not stupid.

(By Brent Budowsky, The Hill) -- From sea to sea there is voter unrest that poses extreme risks for incumbents of both parties. There is almost universal revulsion against Washington and a belief that politicians don’t protect citizens from hostile forces that threaten them.

The conservative base threatens insider Republicans. Unrest spreads among the Democratic base about Democrats who are high-profile, low-courage, and possess no fight for real transforming change. Independents lose faith in them all. The contagion of anti-Washington sentiment reaches pandemic proportion.

The voters are right. The fix is in. The word is out. The discontent is everywhere. Official Washington becomes a besieged fortress of insiderism surrounded by voters demanding change and agitated as business as usual continues despite the speeches, sophistry and spin poured by politicians divorced from the powerful forces of worry and fairness that motivate the people of the nation.

The voters are not stupid. The voters are not happy. The politicians do not listen.

America has ended a rip-off recession and entered a rip-off recovery that is a Depression for many Americans and a life of deep worry and genuine trepidation for many others. Soon the jobless rate will reach 10 percent, a politically explosive moment. Americans know the real jobless rate is much higher.

Voters are gouged by gasoline prices that are rising again. They are gouged by banks that raise their interest rates and increase their fees with lending practices worthy of “The Godfather” under a law the president and Congress falsely claimed would protect them.

Voters are gouged by insurance premiums that rocket to the skies. They worry (correctly) that premiums will soar even higher after the current bill is enacted. Even a lobotomized public option that voters strongly support is squeezed between a president who does not really support it, insurance lobbyists who try to kill it and a Congress drenched in special interest money.

Voters are not stupid. They know they paid a king’s ransom to bail out banks that treat them like they are serfs in feudal England, pay themselves titanic rewards for it and grease palms in Washington with legal bribery called campaign donations.

The fix is in. The word is out. The voters are not happy. They know that nothing has changed. They know that pain has risen in their lives while the president claims credit for doing little. The Republicans claim credit for doing nothing. Big donors are promised secret access to high-level officials in a town that has no shame and will not change.

Real wages continue their 20-year decline. Wall Street compensation reaches all-time highs. Foreclosures continue to mount. The president and Congress do nothing to stop it. Many homeowners fear they will be next. All suffer as the value of their homes decline.

Nothing has changed in Washington. Money talks and the public interest walks. Nothing has changed on Wall Street. Speculators reign while taxpayers pay. Nothing has changed on Main Street. Eloquent speeches do not stop the pain, worry or truth that the John and Jane Does of America are still being scammed.

The fix is in. The word is out. The jig is up. The voters are not stupid. The people are not happy. Washington would be well-advised to listen...LINK

Afghanistan invaded to bring Al Qaeda-harboring Taliban to justice? But US "puppet" Karzai today calls on "Taliban brothers to come home"?

(Telegraph) -- Hamid Karzai offered an olive branch to his "Taliban brothers" in a victory speech a day after he was declared president. He promised an inclusive government and said he would "eradicate the stain of corruption" as his foreign backers pressured him to clean up his regime. In a televised speech he said: "We call on our Taliban brothers to come home and embrace their land"...

Nearly 110,000 Nato-led troops are now fighting the worsening insurgency, with Barack Obama currently deciding whether to send up to 40,000 reinforcements. So far this year, 87 British troops have died in southern Afghanistan as they pushed into Taliban strongholds and attempted to secure territory so Afghans could vote. Mr Karzai made his remarks as the Taliban issued a statement ridiculing him as a foreign "puppet".The statement said the elections had shown "decisions on Afghanistan are made in Washington and London, while the announcements are made in Kabul." It added: "What is astonishing is two weeks ago they were arguing that the puppet president Hamid Karzai was involved in electoral fraud... but now he is elected as president based on those same fraudulent votes, Washington and London immediately send their congratulations."

Mr Karzai, 51, was declared president after Abdullah Abdullah, his former foreign minister, withdrew saying any second round would be a rerun of the fraud-blighted Aug 20 poll...Cont'd...LINK

NutraSweet Aspartame case: Impenetrable federal bureaucracy rulings bought and sold by “getting to” to a few key players

(Rense.com) -- When the G.D. Searle Co. sought FDA approval for NutraSweet they submitted doctored, fraudulent "studies," so corrupt that the Department of Justice appointed two prosecutors to Investigate Searle. Searle's lawyers hired the prosecutors and the case died with the statute of limitations...The 1977 Bressler Report, even without the concealed studies, clearly revealed fraud. Searle deleted what they didn't want FDA to see, even excised the brain tumors from rats, and put them back in the study. After death they resurrected them on paper. Chief FDA Scientist, Dr. Thomas Xavier Collins, investigated two mice teratology (birth defects) studies. The incompetent Searle employee who reviewed studies had but a single year of experience: worked on rabbit populations for the Illinois Wildlife Service! The studies were a travesty, like all Searle's studies submitted to FDA. When the Bressler Report was retyped, FDA omitted the investigation of these two studies, not wanting the public to see how bad they were...Cont'd...LINK

Big Government EU bureaucracy outlaws crucifixes in state-run, Italian schools; (Time for a voucher system?)

(Mail Online) -- Crucifixes have been banned in Italian schools by a ruling from the European Court of Human Rights. The decision has enraged politicians, with Italy's foreign minister Franco Frattini saying: 'This is a death blow for a Europe of values and rights. 'Europe's roots lie in its Christian identity. At a time when we're trying to bring religions closer, the Christian religion gets whacked.

The case was brought by a Finnish woman, Soile Lautsi, who is married to an Italian. Both are atheists. She had complained that her children had to attend a school in northern Italy which had crucifixes in every room, as laid down in law as a reflection of the country's Roman Catholic heritage. The European court's ruling, which will be enforced in three months, said crucifixes could disturb children who were not Christians. It could force a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols in government-run schools. The court rejected arguments by Italy's government that the crucifix was a national symbol of culture, history and identity, tolerance and secularism. And it ordered the Italian government to pay 5000 Euro moral damages to Lautsi...

Today in a 16-page decision the seven judges of the Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg ruled in her favour, saying: 'The presence of the crucifix could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion. 'This could be encouraging for religious pupils, but also disturbing for pupils who practised other religions or were atheists, particularly if they belonged to religious minorities.' The court added that secular, state-run schools must 'observe confessional neutrality in the context of public education,' where attendance is compulsory...Cont'd...LINK
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Libertarian Today editor's note: Since overwhelmingly Catholic Italian citizens are having their tax dollars taken to pay for state schools, but being told that their own taxes can't be used to educate their children in a manner consistent with their own culture, values and beliefs, why not go to a voucher system that allows students to take their portion of the public education pie to the private Catholic school of their family's choice? Perhaps the EU bureaucracy has something against Christianity, and is trying to use the state schools to subversively indoctrinate students into its own value system (see article below). This likelihood demonstrates how "secular" government bureaucracies aren't really secular at all, and how Big Government becomes the enemy and antagonist of local and civilizational values and ways of life. -- Chris Moore

New religion: Environmentalist beliefs now have same weight and protections in law as religious faith, rules Judge

(Telegraph) -- An executive has won the right to sue his employer on the basis that he was unfairly dismissed for his green views after a judge ruled that environmentalism had the same weight in law as religious and philosophical beliefs. In a landmark ruling, Mr Justice Michael Burton said that "a belief in man-made climate change ... is capable, if genuinely held, of being a philosophical belief for the purpose of the 2003 Religion and Belief Regulations". The ruling could open the door for employees to sue their companies for failing to account for their green lifestyles, such as providing recycling facilities or offering low-carbon travel.

The decision regards Tim Nicholson, former head of sustainability at property firm Grainger plc, who claims he was made redundant in July 2008 due to his "philosophical belief about climate change and the environment". In March, employment judge David Heath gave Mr Nicholson permission to take the firm to tribunal over his treatment. But Grainger challenged the ruling on the grounds that green views were political and based on science, as opposed to religious or philosophical in nature. John Bowers QC, representing Grainger, had argued that adherence to climate change theory was "a scientific view rather than a philosophical one", because "philosophy deals with matters that are not capable of scientific proof." That argument has now been dismissed by Mr Justice Burton, who last year ruled that the environmental documentary An Inconvenient Truth by Al Gore was political and partisan. The decision allows the tribunal to go ahead, but more importantly sets a precedent for how environmental beliefs are regarded in English law...Cont'd...LINK

Are social conservative Buchananites and libertarian Paulites coalescing into a viable "alternative Right" political movement?

(SA @ Takimag) -- Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending the 2nd annual HL Mencken Club conference where a host of conservative and libertarian thinkers came together for a rousing exchange of ideas on what might—and what should—animate the American Right. One, surely ongoing, debate seemed to be whether right-wingers could make more progress by focusing on cultural issues like illegal immigration, multiculturalism and affirmative action or libertarian issues like government size, spending and perhaps, civil liberties. Would a more culture-minded Buchananite approach work best? Or perhaps a more libertarian-minded Paulite approach?



What many are now calling, appropriately and accurately enough, the “Alternative Right” encompasses both the Buchanan and Paul camps, and whatever differences each have are miniscule compared to their shared, stark differences with the liberal Left and mainstream neoconservative Right. Before discussing what should be done to advance Alternative Right causes—why not look at what has already been done? The two most successful, right-wing grassroots uprisings in recent years have been the backlash to amnesty for illegal aliens in 2007 and the ongoing “tea party” protests against government spending. Buchanan’s position on illegal immigration in 1996—something only he talked about back then and the GOP viciously attacked him for—is now conventional conservative consensus...Cont'd...LINK

Fury in Arab world as Hillary reneges on Obama rhetoric to help Palestinians; "Israel can get away with anything"

(Guardian) -- Hillary Clinton, the US secretary of state, sought to deflect the anger and disappointment of pro-western Arab states today after backing Israel's position that it did not need to freeze settlement activity as a prelude to resuming peace talks with the Palestinians. Clinton was due to meet foreign ministers from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and other key Arab states at a G8 conference in Morocco after brief talks in Jerusalem and Ramallah at the weekend. In what appeared to be a significant policy shift she publicly supported the position taken by Binyamin Netanyahu, Israel's Likud prime minister, and even praised him for making "unprecedented" concessions.

Amid mounting concern that Barack Obama's much-heralded engagement with the Middle East peace process is going nowhere fast, Arab leaders expressed their fury at Clinton's endorsement of Israel's argument that it is not required to halt settlement activity in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, as the administration had previously demanded. The Palestinian Authority, Jordan and Egypt all protested...Earlier today Amr Moussa, the secretary general of the Arab League, said: "I am telling you that all of us, including Saudi Arabia, including Egypt, are deeply disappointed … with the results, with the fact that Israel can get away with anything without any firm stand that this cannot be done."...Cont'd...LINK

Pilger: Obama follows Bush template to build foundation for attack on Iran

(JohnPilger.com) -- In 2001, the Observer in London published a series of reports that claimed an “Iraqi connection” to al-Qaeda, even describing the base in Iraq where the training of terrorists took place and a facility where anthrax was being manufactured as a weapon of mass destruction. It was all false. Supplied by US intelligence and Iraqi exiles, planted stories in the British and US media helped George Bush and Tony Blair to launch an illegal invasion which caused, according to the most recent study, 1.3 million deaths...

The official jargon for this kind of propaganda is “psy-ops”, the military term for psychological operations. In the Pentagon and Whitehall, it has become a critical component of a diplomatic and military campaign to blockade, isolate and weaken Iran by hyping its “nuclear threat”: a phrase now used incessantly by Barack Obama and Gordon Brown, and parroted by the BBC and other broadcasters as objective news. And it is fake. On 16 September, Newsweek disclosed that the major US intelligence agencies had reported to the White House that Iran’s “nuclear status” had not changed since the National Intelligence Estimate of November 2007, which stated with “high confidence” that Iran had halted in 2003 the programme it was alleged to have developed. The International Atomic Energy Agency has backed this, time and again.

The current propaganda-as-news derives from Obama’s announcement that the US is scrapping missiles stationed on Russia’s border. This serves to cover the fact that the number of US missile sites is actually expanding in Europe and the “redundant” missiles are being redeployed on ships. The game is to mollify Russia into joining, or not obstructing, the US campaign against Iran. “President Bush was right,” said Obama, “that Iran’s ballistic missile programme poses a significant threat [to Europe and the US].” That Iran would contemplate a suicidal attack on the US is preposterous. The threat, as ever, is one-way, with the world’s superpower virtually ensconced on Iran’s borders. Iran’s crime is its independence. Having thrown out America’s favourite tyrant, Shah Reza Pahlavi, Iran remains the only resource-rich Muslim state beyond US control. As only Israel has a “right to exist”in the Middle East, the US goal is to cripple the Islamic Republic. This will allow Israel to divide and dominate the region on Washington’s behalf, undeterred by a confident neighbour. If any country in the world has been handed urgent cause to develop a nuclear “deterrence”, it is Iran...Cont'd...LINK

The new charlatanism: Gore's environmental proselytizing pays off as he's poised to make millions in taxpayer wealth transfer to "green" sector

(New York Times) -- Former Vice President Al Gore thought he had spotted a winner last year when a small California firm sought financing for an energy-saving technology from the venture capital firm where Mr. Gore is a partner. The company, Silver Spring Networks, produces hardware and software to make the electricity grid more efficient. It came to Mr. Gore’s firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital providers, looking for $75 million to expand its partnerships with utilities seeking to install millions of so-called smart meters in homes and businesses. Mr. Gore and his partners decided to back the company, and in gratitude Silver Spring retained him and John Doerr, another Kleiner Perkins partner, as unpaid corporate advisers.

The deal appeared to pay off in a big way last week, when the Energy Department announced $3.4 billion in smart grid grants. Of the total, more than $560 million went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts. Kleiner Perkins and its partners, including Mr. Gore, could recoup their investment many times over in coming years. Silver Spring Networks is a foot soldier in the global green energy revolution Mr. Gore hopes to lead. Few people have been as vocal about the urgency of global warming and the need to reinvent the way the world produces and consumes energy. And few have put as much money behind their advocacy as Mr. Gore and are as well positioned to profit from this green transformation, if and when it comes. Critics, mostly on the political right and among global warming skeptics, say Mr. Gore is poised to become the world’s first “carbon billionaire,” profiteering from government policies he supports that would direct billions of dollars to the business ventures he has invested in. Representative Marsha Blackburn, Republican of Tennessee, asserted at a hearing this year that Mr. Gore stood to benefit personally from the energy and climate policies he was urging Congress to adopt...Cont'd...LINK

Obama administration does an abrupt about-face, once again pits America against Palestinians, Arab world

(Telegraph) -- Signalling an end to the brief flirtation with the Palestinian cause, the US secretary of state flew to Jerusalem to voice full American support for Israel and its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. In an effort to repair badly strained US-Israeli relations, she heaped praise on Mr Netanyahu, lauding his offer to limit settlement construction – even though it falls well short of President Obama's original demands. She said: "What the prime minister has offered in specifics on restraints on a policy of settlements... is unprecedented in the context of prior to negotiations." Risking the ire of the Arab world, she also joined Israeli calls for an immediate Palestinian return to the negotiating table without preconditions. America's about-turn on the most contentious issue stalling a resumption of Middle East peace talks has delighted Israel. But it will also damage Mr Obama's reputation as a peacemaker for many Arabs, bolster critics who have accused him of naïvety and enhance a growing sense of betrayal in the Palestinian territories...

Delivering a landmark speech to university students in Cairo five months ago, Mr Obama sought to reach out to the Arab world by speaking of his sympathy for Palestinian "suffering" and the "humiliation" of occupation. In a major policy declaration, he also rejected the legitimacy of Israeli settlement in the West Bank saying: "It is time for the settlements to stop." Presented with a subsequent demand from Mrs Clinton for a total settlement freeze without exception, Israel recoiled while the Arab world rejoiced...Yet while the United States and Israel may once more be friends, the confusing shifts in the Obama administration's policy seem to bode poorly for the prospects of a peace settlement...Cont'd...LINK