PDX Cops Won't Release "No Confidence" Vote; Humphreys Reinstated (?)

Chief Sizer and Commissioner Saltzman come around on the Officer Chris Humphreys suspension. Humphreys was suspended for not taking the initiative and taking James Chasse to the hospital after falling on him during a police chase. When Humphreys participated in another police incident, beanbagging a girl who attacked a cop at a Max platform (where she was already 'excluded' by the cops) the Police Officers Association went off on the city. PPA President, Sgt Scott Westerman, organized a rally, did a blitz of media and organized the "no confidence" vote whose results were expected this afternoon. 
Instead the media got this: 

"...the PPA announced today it will not release the results of the ballots returned in the union's no confidence vote. The PPA advocated for the reversal of Officer Humphreys [sic] suspension, and the reinstatement of his full police powers, and we are happy that Commissioner Saltzman and Chief Sizer have accepted our point of view.

 "Today's actions grant those basic due process rights [to officer Chris Humphreys]. PPA President Scott Westerman said he was encouraged by the decision and believes the door is now open to efforts that will strengthen public safety in the region..."

Oregon Ripe for "Good Time" Release of Criminals

Four police officers are gunned down in cold blood, execution style, by a man out on bail for the rape of a child. But before that Maurice Clemmons was in and out of the slammer for a variety of crimes. He was always shown mercy by the powers that be but was never --never--worthy of it. (see post below).
I asked Steve Doell of Oregon's Crime Victim's United to offer his assessment of what went wrong with Clemmons.
"On behalf of Crime Victim's United and myself personally, I want to offer condolences to the families and friends of the officers who were murdered on Sunday.
Maurice Clemmons was a man whose fate should have rested with the Arkansas Parole Board, but instead then-Governor Mike Huckabee commuted his sentence. This is the role of the legislature and parole board. Sure, Governor Huckabee had the right under law to commute the sentence of this individual, but he was clearly wrong.
In Oregon, Legislators in the last session changed the voter passed Measure 57 sentences on property criminals. They passed HB 3508 to loosen sentencing strictures for judges. Legislators promised the bill would allow for a 50% increase in "good time" only for those criminals who were guilty of drug and property crimes. But you decide if that's true.
Recently a Umatilla man who murdered, then shot, and then dismembered his wife's body went back to court to get 'good time' on his sentence for dismemberment because he claims it falls under HB 3508. The illegal alien who mowed over a woman jogging in the gorge went back to get his sentence reduced under HB 3508. Nothing like what happened in Washington has happened in Oregon. Yet."

Clemency, "Good Time" & Wa Judge Screw Up Means Accused Child Rapist Was Free to Kill Cops

All you cop haters out there just remember that having a cup of coffee while doing paper work can get you killed. Especially when there are a plethora of 'do gooders' out there who don't think felons should have to pay for you PREVIOUS crimes.
From NRO here: 

The ambush and murder of four police officers in a suburban Seattle coffee shop on Sunday took a decidely political turn when it was discovered that the prime suspect in the killings, 37-year-old Maurice Clemmons, was once granted clemency by former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee.

According to news accounts, in 2001 Huckabee commuted Clemmons’s 60-year sentence for a string of felony convictions after Clemmons had served just eleven years, despite protests from local prosecutors.

A statement released early this morning by Huck PAC, the former governor’s political action committee, cites “a series of failures in the criminal justice system in both Arkansas and Washington State” as at fault should Clemmons be found responsible for the police killings.

The clemency was granted in part because Clemmons was just seventeen at the time of his conviction. But within months of being released from an Arkansas jail, Clemmons was rearrested for parole violation. Three years later, he was released again, after an apparent procedural mistake led prosecutors to drop further charges that would have kept him incarcerated.

In Washington, Clemmons continued to run afoul of the law. At the time of the police killings, he was out on $30,000 bail on a charge of second-degree rape of a child.

 

Would You Like Some E.coli Gravy With Your Turkey?

Wednesday: City takes water sample.
Thursday: Thanksgiving. Sample shows E.coli. No announcement.
Friday: City re-checks E.coli in the City of Portland water. No announcement.
Saturday at 11pm: Call from husband about seeing news story about E.coli in water and the need to boil.
E.coli comes from fecal matter --poop--in the water. Uh, how did it get there again? A little back wash from the Willamette or something?
The City says it could have been from a dead bird or something.
Here's what the Zero reports on the funky timing of the testing and then the announcement. 

The Water Bureau lost 24 hours in issuing the boil-water order because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Shaff, the bureau director, explained that a water sample from Reservoir 3 in Washington Park was drawn Wednesday, one of 20 routine samples performed throughout the system that day.
Samples must incubate 24 hours before being tested. A test on Thanksgiving showed the sample contained E. coli from fecal contamination. Rather than take another sample Thursday, the bureau waited until Friday morning.

In short, someone was on vacay and couldn't report the findings to the public which was busy serving E.coli gravy to their guests.

I understand someone from the City was to have sent out emails about finding E.coli in the water. Is this true? My husband's checking his email because I don't have any in mine.
UPDATE: No emails or robocalls to update citizens that their water might be poisoned. However, I did hear a soundbite on radio news from Randy Leonard, Water Bureau Boss, in which he says Portlanders overreacted.
Sam Adams says the City should have a system to notify residents of future water problems [but they used the money for that for street cars]. Ok, I added that last part. It's my contention, however, that the City, Metro and County are to Portland what the Levee Boards are to New Orleans. Money for pet projects and everything else--except fortifying existing infrastructure.
On the issue of overreacting, here's what Randy said:

Leonard said some people overreacted, but said the incident pointed out the need to have water and other emergency supplies on hand. Multnomah County health officer Dr. Gary Oxman  said the warning system is a "designed over-reaction" intended to protect the most vulnerable residents.

From the City's website:

4:25 PM November 29, 2009

EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY

BOIL WATER NOTICE ENDED: WATER DELIVERED TO ALL TAPS HAS TESTED SAFE TO DRINK

Residents and businesses west of the Willamette River may now drink tap water without boiling it first. This includes customers of the Portland Water Bureau, Palantine Hill, Valley View and Burlington water districts. Additional testing of drinking water has shown no further presence of bacterial contamination. The Portland Water Bureau recommends all residents and businesses flush all taps for 2 minutes or until the water runs cold before consuming for the first time.

"The second set of results showing no contamination is good news; it indicates that whatever contamination was present was both transient and limited to a relatively small portion of the water system," said Multnomah County Health Officer Gary Oxman.

Earlier this week, [emphasis added] contamination was detected in Washington Park Reservoir 3 that serves west side customers of the Portland Water Bureau, and the Palatine Hills, Valley View and Burlington water districts. That reservoir has been taken off-line and being drained, which will take up to four days. The reservoir will be tested, investigated for contamination, and cleaned before it is put back on line.

On Saturday, in addition to the sites required for resampling, the Portland Water Bureau sampled twenty sites in the distribution system. Eighteen of these sites were downstream of Reservoir 3 and reflect the area affected by the boil water notice. All of these samples were negative for total coliform and E.coli, indicating that there is not persistent widespread contamination in the distribution system.

The initial positive E.coli sample was sent to Legacy Emanuel Laboratory for typing and laboratory results indicate that the E.coli found in Reservoir 3 are not the O:157:H7 strain of E.coli, which is associated with more serious illness.

The Portland Water Bureau thanks Portlanders for their cooperation and understanding during the mandatory “Boil Water Notice”. The Portland Water Bureau consulted closely with the State of Oregon Department of Human Services and the Multnomah County Health Department to provide the best possible protection to the public.

The Water Bureau reminds people of the importance of having a 72-hour emergency preparedness kit, which includes a three-day supply of potable water for sitautions such as this incident and other emegencies. Information on emergency preparedness kits can be found on the American Red Cross Web site.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example people in apartments, nursing homes, schools and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.
For more information visit www.portlandonline.com/water or call the Water Bureau Customer Service line at (503) 823-7770.
                      

November 29, 2008 12:30 pm

The Boil Water Notice is still in effect for Portland Water Bureau customers west of the Willamette River and customers of Burlington, Palatine Hill and Valley View water districts.  Customers should continue to boil all water for one minute before consuming.

The Portland Water Bureau will have an update at 4 PM today, November 29, 2009 when results from the most recent sampling results are known.

November 28, 2009 

DRINKING WATER WARNING

Water delivered by Portland Water Bureau, Burlington, Palatine Hill, and Valley View Water Districts could be contaminated with potentially harmful bacteria

PORTLAND WATER BUREAU CUSTOMERS WEST OF THE WILLAMETTE RIVER AND CUSTOMERS OF BURLINGTON, PALATINE HILL AND VALLEY VIEW WATER DISTRICTS SHOULD BOIL WATER BEFORE USING

Routine water quality samples for total coliforms, including E. coli, were confirmed for fecal contamination in a Washington Park open reservoir on November 28, 2009. Fecal coliforms and E. coli are bacteria whose presence indicates that the water may be contaminated with human or animal wastes. Microbes in these waters can cause short-term effects, such as diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headaches, or other symptoms. They may pose a special health risk for infants, young children, some of the elderly, and people with severely compromised immune systems.

These symptoms are not only caused by organisms in drinking water. If you experience any of these symptoms and they persist, you may want to seek medical advice. People at increased risk should seek advice about drinking water from their health care providers.

What Should I do? What does this mean to me?

DO NOT DRINK THE WATER WITHOUT BOILING IT FIRST OR USE BOTTLE WATER. Boiled or bottled water should be used for drinking, making ice, brushing teeth, washing dishes, and food preparation until further notice. Bring all water to a rolling boil for one minute, and let it cool before using, or use bottled water. Boiling kills bacteria and other organisms in the water.

What is being done?
The Portland Water Bureau has taken the reservoir out of service. We will inform you when tests show no bacteria and you no longer need to boil your water. We anticipate resolving the problem within 24 hours.

For more information, please contact Portland Water Bureau at 503-823-7770 or 1120 SW 5^th Ave., Portland, OR, 97204. General guidelines on ways to lessen the risk of infection by microbes are available from the EPA Safe Drinking Water Hotline at 1-800-426-4791.

Please share this information with all the other people who drink this water, especially those who may not have received this notice directly (for example, people in apartments, nursing homes, schools, and businesses). You can do this by posting this notice in a public place or distributing copies by hand or mail.

 For more information:

 http://www.portlandonline.com/water/DrinkingWaterAdvisory

¡Advertencia! Empezando desde hoy

Todas las personas que beben agua del sistema de agua de la Ciudad de Portland oeste del Rio Willamette: HIERVAN EL AGUA POTABLE ANTES DE USARLA.
Éste es un aviso importante acerca del agua potable que afecta su salud. Por favor llame al 503-823-7770 para obtener información en español.

This notice is being sent to you by Portland Water Bureau. State Water System ID#: OR4100657.
Date distributed: November 28, 2009.

ClimateGate Saturday: We'll Release AGW Data. ClimateGate Sunday: Climate Data Destroyed

The Global Warmists told the Competitive Enterprise Institute that data upon which much of the global warming claims were based has been destroyed. As we've reported to you here and here and here. But in Saturday's London Times the scientists ideologues at the University of East Anglia claimed they would release the data!

In a statement welcomed by climate change sceptics, the university said it would make all the data accessible as soon as possible, once its Climatic Research Unit (CRU) had negotiated its release from a range of non-publication agreements. 

Alas, Sunday came and all hopes were dashed again.

SCIENTISTS at the University of East Anglia (UEA) have admitted throwing away much of the raw temperature data on which their predictions of global warming are based.
It means that other academics are not able to check basic calculations said to show a long-term rise in temperature over the past 150 years.

The "Team," as the Warmists call themselves, talked about the data in the emails. They conspired to block the data from FOI requests and talked of "hiding the decline" in temperatures which got in the way of their Warmism.
Let's bring back this goodie from a week or so ago put on the blog by Lew.

God Bless America on This Day of Thanksgiving

How Democrats Dishonor Thanksgiving

In 1939, Democrat Franklin Delano Roosevelt, struggling with the Great Depression, decreed Thanksgiving should be moved from the last Thursday of November to the second from last, to give shoppers more shopping time for Christmas and hopefully boost sales.

Back then, Christmas season did not begin in August, but the day after Thanksgiving.

The public largely ignored Roosevelt's folly and eventually, the tradtional date of celebration was reinstated in 1941 when Congress passed a law setting the date of Thanksgiving.

In 2009, Barack Obama, who has shattered all spending records for first year presidents further harming our economy, has left the date of Thanksgiving alone and even participated in the annual pardon for the turkey.

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, however, released a Thanksgiving Cheat Sheet filled with DNC talking points and propaganda designed to help you parry any pesky comments brought on at your dinner table if you have to endure those ridiculous Republican relatives.

From the DCCC email sent out to all who receive them,

If your family is anything like our families, turkey and stuffing won't be the only thing being served up this year at Thanksgiving. Sooner or later that one Republican relative we all have sitting at the other end of the table is bound to bring up politics.

To make sure you're ready, we wanted to bring you our special Thanksgiving edition of @Stake.

Thanksgiving Cheat Sheet

Just in case your Republican friends or relatives at Thanksgiving try to repeat anything they've heard from Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, or by reading Sarah Palin's Facebook page, we wanted to help you respond with the truth.

Isn't it great to have Democrats helping you enjoy your day of Thanksgiving?

An Iranian-American Patriot Speaks

Hossein Khorram was born in Iran and escaped with his family during the radical Islamic takeover of the country. He spoke the following speech at the King County Washington Republican Convention Liberty Day Dinner, November 21, 2009.

I would like to start by expressing my gratitude to Chairman Sotelo, and the rest of the King County Republican Party for providing me with this opportunity to speak to you tonight about a subject very dear to my heart - the value of Liberty and Freedom.

You see, I know all about losing liberty and freedom. 30 years ago my family was forced to leave Iran or risk our lives. We had little more than pocket change. But this great country accepted us with open arms and treated us as one of her own.

With Government financial help, I attended college and obtained a degree in Mechanical Engineering. I then worked for a local consulting firm before joining the Boeing Company. Today, thanks to America, and the many Americans who’ve helped me along the way, I’m a successful local businessman and proud to call myself an American citizen.

But I’m not here to tell you about myself. I’m here to tell you about something much bigger than me. I want to talk to you tonight about all the “Hossein’s” of this world who need your help to replace Tyranny and Oppression with Freedom and Liberty.

Sadly the extremist Muslims who are a small minority get all the headlines, and you never hear about the peaceful majority who want to live their lives and bring up their families.

Today many Iranians are fighting for freedom, something many of us in the West take for granted. They’re dying in the streets of Iran, and in its prisons suffering from the most horrific tortures.

The United States has a special place in the world. The freedom and liberty we enjoy, and the constitution that protects such rights, has become an inspiration. Not just for Iranians but for all those across the globe who fight those who have taken away their freedom and rule them by fear and violence. I know because I was one of the oppressed.

With the advent of air travel and the internet we have become a more global community, and just as we affect others with the message of Freedom and Liberty, we are also affected by tyranny and hate. 9/11, a date celebrated by some in countries run by Islamic extremists, is an example of how a terrible act of such hatred and violence can affect our lives. Terrorism breeds fear. But we didn’t cower. We, as a nation, countered that violence by sending our troops, together with troops from around the world, to Iraq and Afghanistan to overthrow regimes protecting Islamic extremists and tyrannizing their people.

I admire, and I’m sure all of you here admire, the courage of our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan and believe in them, but we also need to believe in the reasons they are there.

You see, Freedom and Liberty are worth fighting for and are not the sole property of Western nationals, but the right of all mankind.

The United States as the leader of the “Free World” has been the target of those who embrace tyranny and violence, not just because of who we are but because of the fundamental rights we believe in and are willing to fight for. There are many people and nations around the world who wrap themselves in the cloak of Islam, Socialism or Communism and find Freedom and Liberty for all as a direct challenge to their goals of domination.

The Islamic Republic of Iran, by supporting various terrorist organizations, has become a major threat to the security of the United States and jeopardizes our right to enjoy Freedom and Liberty. Having lived in Iran, I can assure you that if the current Tehran Regime acquires a nuclear capability people around the world, including the United States, will live in fear, and some may lose their Freedom and Liberties as my family once did. Unlike North Korea, the Mullahs won’t use nuclear weapons as a negotiating tool; they’ll use them against people they perceive to be their enemies.

At a time when Islamic extremists have only conventional weapons, our media already has refrained from publishing cartoons of the Prophet Mohammad as a direct result of extremist pressure. This is just a small way in which our right to freedom of speech has been limited. Just imagine how many ways our Freedoms and Liberties could be compromised if the Mullahs had nuclear weapons in their arsenal to back up their demands.

President Obama needs to learn from history. History has shown that his current policy, one of appeasement, will sooner or later fail as it has always failed.

In Hopes of normalizing relations with the Iranian regime we looked the other way when Iran provided material support for the 1983 U.S. Marine barracks bombing in Lebanon killing 220 Marines.

We again looked the other way in 1996 when Iranian backed suicide bombers killed 19 U.S. Servicemen at Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia.

Appeasement doesn’t work!

Instead, we should be investing our time and efforts in the many “Hossein’s” who are braving imprisonment, torture and death at the hands of the Iranian regime.

This week alone 5 demonstrators were sentenced to death.

Tonight I have a message for you, a message from my heart on behalf of the people of Iran - and that message is that they desperately need the United States, the leader of the “Free World” to start acting as one.

Our President needs to stand up for the ideals we hold so dear, those of Freedom and Liberty. The people of Iran are entitled, as are all people, to those rights. They do not deserve the fate they currently suffer at the hands of their tormentors.

All of you here are key to ending the policies of appeasement currently being pursued by the US government. Please tell your elected officials that we don’t want our Liberties and Freedoms threatened by Rogue States. Urge them to do all that they can to bring pressure to bear on the current Iranian Regime to yield to its people’s cries for democracy.

In doing so you not only help those seeking freedom, but you also help retain and strengthen our own.

Thank you.

Hossein Khorram

“For those who have fought for it, freedom has a taste the protected will never know.”

Unemployment Rate Growth, June 2007 to Today

Color coded by county, how unemployment has grown since the Democrats passed their minimum wage increase in 2007 and took total dictatorial control of the country in January 2009.



Elections do have consequences.

What Media Bias?

A Year...and Nothing: Ineptitude or Inflaming a Crisis? By Pete the Banker

By Pete the Banker

In July/August 2007 the residential and commercial mortgage markets collapsed.  A year ago AIG, Lehman Brothers, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac failed. As Congress Matters blog put it (here), the stakes couldn't have been higher:

"A year ago Wall Street's financial rupture sent the economy hurtling into a massive crisis, crushing tens of millions of Americans in an avalanche of unemployment, underemployment, home foreclosures, reduced incomes and lost benefits.  That financial rupture was caused by a combination of rapacious, mindless greed on Wall Street, the then-bloated housing bubble, and the failure of both regulators and of the financial regulatory structure."

Fast Forward to November 19, 2009, the Senate Banking Committee headed by Chris Dodd finally starts Committee hearings on proposals for "sweeping" financial regulatory reform.  On Friday, November 20, 2009 the House Financial Services Committee delays a Committee vote it's Financial Services Industry Overhaul Bill until at least after the Thanksgiving Holiday.  Why all the delay?

Ironically, also on Friday, November 20 the Washington Post published an article proclaiming that "Problem Mortgages Hit New High at 14 Percent" (9.6% of borrowers delinquent in Q3; 4.5% in foreclosure) and previously Fitch Ratings (Diana Golobay, Housing Wire, October 13, 2009) reported that 60% of 2006 - 2007 residential loans secured under Residential Mortgage Backed Securities were underwater (loan exceeded property value). 

Over the past year almost single handedly the Federal Reserve Bank alone has tried to revive the failed mortgage markets.  Where has the Administration and Congress been in the past twelve months in which Americans have faced the worst Financial Crisis since the Great Depression and the worst Economic and Unemployment Crisis in at least the past 30 years?  Why does the Senate and Congress continue to Dodd-le (pardon the pun, dawdle) and the Administration to again seem to be dithering?  

/link>

Why are they delaying?  Is it simply lack of interest?  Is it the dollars received by Dodd, Frank and Obama over the past five years from the financial industry inclusive of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in hopes of delaying reform?  Is it that both Congress and the Administration are simply incompetent and in over their heads?  Or is it something far more nefarious, an attempt to delay reform allowing a lingering housing crisis and an ever worsening unemployment/economic crisis’s to overwhelm the resources of an already strained system in hopes of further inflaming the mortgage crisis and expanding Washington, DC’s control?

Doesn't Look Like a Hacker: Global Warming Info Appears to Have Been Stone Walled FOI Data

Not a hacker. Repeat: Not a Hacker. Here.

Climategate - Hide The Decline

Climategate: the final nail in the coffin of 'Anthropogenic Global Warming'?

Hiding evidence of global cooling

And, how out of touch is Obama on this scandal?

"Obama said Tuesday the world has moved "one step closer" to a "strong operational agreement" on climate change at next month's Copenhagen summit after his talks with Indian and Chinese leaders."

Sweetness & Light has posted a compilation of several of the emails here

From Consensus to Conspiracy: The Latest on the Global Warming Email Scandal on the Show

ON THE SHOW: From Consensus to Conspiracy: Dr. Tim Ball regarding the latest on the Global Warming email scandal. Also Chrisopher Horner from the Competitive Enterprise Institute and author of Red Hot Lies: How Global Warming Alarmists Use Threats, Fraud, And deception to Keep You Misinformed on his lawsuit CEI has to force disclosure of GW papers.

Get yours now here.

Kentucky Census Bureau Worker Hanged Self

Apologies anyone?  Here.
H/T orbusmax

No Climate Change Fearmongering??

WARNING!! The following video is over the top and not intended for immature audiences.



False data and now such extreme fearmongering?

How much pollution does Al Gore contribute as heflitters across the globe selling his nonsense?

http://www.planestupid.com/

From their sponsor an action page:

"We won't pretend sponsoring us makes up for taking a weekend break in Prague, or flying to the Copenhagen conference. But we promise that we won’t spend it on fancy chairs for our office. To tell the truth, we don’t even have an office. All we have is a burning desire to stop domestic flights and a spectacular plan... which we can't afford on our own."

Any wonders just what their "spectacular plan" will entail?

I Do Not Choose to be a Common Man

I heard this Sunday in a class at church. I just wish more people knew what it meant. What does it mean to you?

My Creed
by Dean Alfange

I do not choose to be a common man It is my right to be uncommon... If I can. I seek opportunity... Not security.

I do not wish to be a kept citizen, humbled and dulled by having the state
to dream and build, to fail and succeed.

I refuse to barter incentive for a dole. I prefer the challenges of life to the guaranteed existence; the thrill of fulfillment to the stale calm of utopia.

I will not trade freedom for beneficence Nor my dignity for a hand out. I will never cower before any master nor bend to any threat.

It is my heritage to stand erect, proud, and unafraid; to think and act for myself; enjoy the benefits of my creations; and to face the world boldly and say, "This I have done with my own hand, I am a man. I am an American.

SNL Waking Up?

19

What the Hacked Emails, Documents, Etc, Mean

By retired (and the first to be called "denier") Climatologist Tim Ball (find this original column here):

Canada Free Press November 21, 2009

Hacked files of the Climatic Research Unit, Global Warming a deliberate fraud 

Global Warming is often called a hoax. I disagree because a hoax has a humorous intent to puncture pomposity. In science, such as with the Piltdown Man hoax, it was done to expose those with fervent but blind belief. The argument that global warming is due to humans, known as the anthropogenic global warming theory (AGW) is a deliberate fraud. I can now make that statement without fear of contradiction because of a remarkable hacking of files that provided not just a smoking gun, but an entire battery of machine guns. 

  Someone hacked in to the files of the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) based at the University of East Anglia. A very large file (61 mb) was downloaded and posted to the web. Phil Jones Director of the CRU has acknowledged the files are theirs. They contain papers, documents letters and emails. The latter are the most damaging and contain blunt information about the degree of manipulation of climate science in general and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change in particular.  Climate science hijacked and corrupted by this small group of scientists 

Dominant names involved are ones I have followed throughout my career including, Phil Jones, Benjamin Santer, Michael Mann, Kevin Trenberth, Jonathan Overpeck, Ken Briffa and Tom Wigley. I have watched climate science hijacked and corrupted by this small group of scientists. This small, elite, community was named by Professor Wegman in his report to the National Academy of Science (NAS).

I had the pleasure of meeting the founder of CRU Professor Hubert Lamb, considered the Father of Modern Climatology, on a couple of occasions. He also peer reviewed one of my early publications. I know he would be mortified with what was disclosed in the last couple of days.

  Jones claims the files were obtained illegally as if that absolves the content. It doesn’t and it is enough to destroy all their careers. Jones gave a foretaste of his behavior in 2005. Warwick Hughes asked for the data and method he used for his claim of a 0.6°C temperature rise since the end of the nineteenth century. Jones responded, “We have 25 years or so invested in the work. Why should I make the data available to you when your aim is to try and find something wrong with it?”  He has stonewalled ever since. The main reason was because it was used as a key argument in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Reports to convince the world humans caused rapid warming in the 20th century. The emails obtained are a frightening record of arrogance, and deception far beyond his 2005 effort.

  Another glimpse into what the files and emails reveal was the report by Professor Deming. He wrote, “ With publication of an article in Science (in 1995) I gained sufficient credibility in the community of scientists working on climate change. They thought I was one of them someone who would pervert science in the service of social and political causes. So one of them let his guard down. A major person working in the area of climate change and global warming sent me an astonishing email that said. “We must get rid of the Medieval Warm Period.”  The person in question was Jonathan Overpeck and his even more revealing emails are part of those exposed by the hacker. It is now very clear that Deming’s charge was precise. They have perverted science in the service of social and political causes.

  Professor Wegman showed how this “community of scientists” published together and peer reviewed each other’s work. I was always suspicious about why peer review was such a big deal. Now all my suspicions are confirmed. The emails reveal how they controlled the process, including manipulating some of the major journals like Science and Nature. We know the editor of the Journal of Climate, Andrew Weaver, was one of the “community”. They organized lists of reviewers when required making sure they gave the editor only favorable names. They threatened to isolate and marginalize one editor who they believed was recalcitrant.

  Total Control

These people controlled the global weather data used by the IPCC through the joint Hadley and CRU and produced the HadCRUT data. They controlled the IPCC, especially crucial chapters and especially preparation of the Summary for PolicyMakers (SPM). Stephen Schneider was a prime mover there from the earliest reports to the most influential in 2001. They also had a left wing conduit to the New York Times. The emails between Andy Revkin and the community are very revealing and must place his journalistic integrity in serious jeopardy. Of course the IPCC Reports and especially the SPM Reports are the basis for Kyoto and the Copenhagen Accord, but now we know they are based on completely falsified and manipulated data and science. It is no longer a suspicion. Surely this is the death knell for the CRU, the IPCC, Kyoto and Copenhagen and the Carbon Credits shell game.

 

CO2 never was a problem and all the machinations and deceptions exposed by these files prove that it was the greatest deception in history, but nobody is laughing. It is a very sad day for science and especially my chosen area of climate science. As I expected now it is all exposed I find there is no pleasure in “I told you so.”

Canadian Climatologist Tim Ball, PhD on Being Exonerated

Background on what the heck I'm talking about here and here and here. 
Nut 'graf here: 

Hackers broke into the electronic files of one of the world's foremost climate research centers this week and posted an array of e-mails in which prominent scientists engaged in a blunt discussion of global warming research and disparaged climate-change skeptics.

The skeptics have seized upon e-mails stolen from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Britain as evidence that scientific data have been rigged to make it appear as if humans are causing global warming. The researchers, however, say the e-mails have been taken out of context and merely reflect an honest exchange of ideas.

University officials confirmed the data breach, which involves more than 1,000 e-mails and 3,000 documents, but said they could not say how many of the stolen items were authentic.

"We are aware that information from a server in one area of the university has been made available on public websites," the statement says. "We are extremely concerned that personal information about individuals may have been compromised. Because of the volume of this information we cannot currently confirm what proportion of this material is genuine."

If the material is genuine, I'm not sure Mann came make the claim that they're taken out of context. I knew he and the rest of them would say that.
Back to Ball: Besides my show on Friday, here's Ball's interview on the noted skeptics' website here. 
Check out my previous post about Dr. Ball being exonerated by this "man made global warming" scandal here. 
Then check here for my interview with Dr. Ball and Climatologist George Taylor and Chuck Wiese on the scandal.

MSNBC’s Norah O’Donnell Grills Young Palin Supporter

Not shown by MSNBC is more of the grilling with 17 year-old Jackie Seal;

O'DONNELL: What is it that you most like about her? What policy?

SEAL: She upholds the Constitution, the document that made this country so great, and that's what we need to go back to. We've gone so far from the Constitution that we're reaping the consequences of that right now.

O'DONNELL: Specifically?

SEAL: Big government. The Constitution was written so that government would be limited and so that it didn't become out-of-control and was in the hands of the people.

Note, Ms. O’Donnell is holding notes to grill Sarah Palin supporters with, the 17 year-old isn’t

Also, O’Donnell states that the 17 year-old voted in last years election. Jackie would have been 16 years old at the time and not eligible to vote.

O’Donnell tried to defend her actions, which is posted at NewsBusters.com.

Ms. Seal blogged about the encounter here

Kudo’s to 17 year-old Jackie Seal.

Climatologist Tim Ball: "This Isn't Just a Bomb Shell; It's a Nuclear Bomb Shell"

"I've always said all along that once this comes out I'll say, "I told you so," but there is no pleasure in that whatsoever. None whatsoever. This is a tragedy of global proportions because when you think about what these people have done by creating the IPCC by creating the Kyoto and threatening people with carbon footprints and Al Gore calling people like me a flat earther and all the people's reputations ruined and not to mention the billions of dollars wasted and possibly are still going to be wasted.

I think this is big enough to bring down the Hadley Center Unit, to bring down the IPCC and to stop Kyoto and Copenhagen absolutely in its tracks."

Dr. Tim Ball, Global Warming "Denier" on the Victoria Taft Show 11-20-09 7:15pm 

 "I feel vindicated."

George Taylor, FORMER Oregon Climatologist on the Victoria Taft Show 11-20-09 7:40pm

Wall Street Journal blog here.
Global Warming's Blue Dress Moment. Here.
Global Warming's Pentagon Papers. Here.

SHOULD JESSE JACKSON BE CALLED "THE REVEREND," OR THE RACIST?

Jackson threatens pulling your black credentials if you don't favor government health care takeover and you're black.

Jesse Jackson, who wept almost as many tears when Barack Hussein Obama was elected president as Jackson did when he was not, has now once more exposed himself with his public charge that any black member of House or Senate who votes against the governmental takeover of one-sixth of the economy through the nationalization of health care as proposed by Pelosi in the House or Reid in the Senate, cannot "call yourself a black man." Presumably, Jesse meant to include Black Women, too, but gender blended.

Jesse Jackson made this racist statement while continuing to hold himself out as a "Reverend" and a spokesperson for African Americans.

Therefore, I have to ask:  If Jesse Jackson can publicly state that "you can't vote against health care and call yourself a black man," then who does the epithet racist fit? White men? 

If Jesse Jackson can utter the manifestly racist statement he did (imagine if George Bush had said something of that nature only used "white man" instead), without being repudiated by the African American community for whom he purports to speak, then who are the racists? White people?

Further, why is it that all media and almost all white people in this and in other situations, call Jackson "The Reverend"?  

Jackson never graduated from a seminary (he dropped out of the only one he briefly attended). He holds no divinity or theological degree from any institution. He's never been ordained by any recognized denomination.  He's never pastored a church. 

The closest thing he has to anything resembling eduction in theology or divinity is an  "Honorary" degree (of about the same value and integrity as the kind you can buy from the Universal Church or  buy off the internet) which was conferred for political and cosmetic reasons long after Jackson walked around  proclaiming himself to be "the Reverend." 

In short, Jackson can produce  nothing whatsoever to meet the standards otherwise required for a person to be recognized as religious clergy, i.e., a "Reverend." What church does this "Reverend" pastor now? What church has he ever pastored? 

So, is it by way of some "black skin privilege" that Jackson calls himself "The Reverend" and the media goes along with Jackson's demand that he be called "The Reverend"?

Forgive me if I  decline to address or identify the self-promoting race hustler Jesse Jackson as "The Reverend," the title which should be earned by any person purporting to be a  clergyman, a "man of the cloth," a man dedicating his life as a religious, not political, leader. 

Any white man who called himself, and demanded to be called, "The Reverend" the media, any  white man who  dropped out of seminary, held no earned degree, and never pastored a church and then demanded to be addressed as "The Reverend" by the media,  would be scorned, scoffed at, and disregarded by the media, or mocked  for making  the demand..

Why is the same standard  not applied for  Jesse Jackson? 

Jackson can call himself whatever he wants, including "the Reverend."

But the media commits a disservice when it deceives the public into believing Jesse Jackson is a member of the clergy by calling him "The Reverend."

Forgive me if I believe that it is racist for white people to hold black people to lesser standards of behavior, as that very act implies that black people are lesser people, so inferior that they cannot be held to the same standards as all other people.

--Rees Lloyd is a civil rights attorney, Veteran's activist, author and, when we can talk him into it, blogger at Victoria Taft blog where he helps paint the targets in the culture war.

Are These for Real? Is "Consensus" Really a "Conspiracy?" Hacked Emails Show "Fix" Put on Warming Data **With UPDATES

We couldn't go on last night without proper attribution, but you certainly need to know about it. H/T SCT last night. Here's the latest from Climate Depot. 
Look at the video (here H/T Steve Milloy GreenHellBlog ) of coal company official being "grilled" by reporter on global warming. And then watch as he owns her.
And remember what's at stake, controlling countries, wealth and liberty. Look at what the Heritage Foundation found when it amassed a list of what things have been blamed on global warming (here):

Global Warming Ate My Homework: 100 Things Blamed on Global Warming

Posted By Nick Loris On November 17, 2009 @ 5:40 pm In Energy and Environment | 34 Comments

Late for a party? Miss a meeting? Forget to pay your rent? Blame climate change; everyone else is doing it. From an increase in severe acne to all societal collapses since the beginning of time, just about everything gone wrong in the world today can be attributed to climate change. Here’s a list of 100 storylines blaming climate change as the problem.
1. The deaths of Aspen trees in the West ^[1]
2. Incredible shrinking sheep ^[2]
3. Caribbean coral deaths ^[3]
4. Eskimos forced to leave their village ^[4]
5. Disappearing lake in Chile ^[5]
6. Early heat wave in Vietnam ^[6]
7. Malaria and water-borne diseases in Africa ^[7]
8. Invasion of jellyfish in the Mediterranean ^[8]
9. Break in the Arctic Ice Shelf ^[9]
10. Monsoons in India ^[10]
11. Birds laying their eggs early ^[11]
12. 160,000 deaths a year ^[12]
13. 315,000 deaths a year ^[13]
14. 300,000 deaths a year ^[14]
15. Decline in snowpack in the West ^[15]
16. Deaths of walruses in Alaska ^[16]
17. Hunger in Nepal ^[17]
18. The appearance of oxygen-starved dead zones in the oceans ^[18]
19. Surge in fatal shark attacks ^[19]
20. Increasing number of typhoid cases in the Philippines ^[20]
21. Boy Scout tornado deaths ^[21]
22. Rise in asthma and hayfever ^[22]
23. Duller fall foliage in 2007 ^[23]
24. Floods in Jakarta ^[24]
25. Radical ecological shift in the North Sea ^[25]
26. Snowfall in Baghdad ^[26]
27. Western tree deaths ^[27]
28. Diminishing desert resources ^[28]
29. Pine beetles ^[29]
30. Swedish beetles ^[30]
31. Severe acne ^[31]
32. Global conflict ^[32]
33. Crash of Air France 447 ^[33]
34. Black Hawk Down incident ^[34]
35. Amphibians breeding earlier ^[35]
36. Flesh-eating disease ^[36]
37. Global cooling ^[37]
38. Bird strikes on US Airways 1549 ^[38]
39. Beer tastes different ^[39]
40. Cougar attacks in Alberta ^[40]
41. Suicide of farmers in Australia ^[41]
42. Squirrels reproduce earlier ^[42]
43. Monkeys moving to Great Rift Valley in Kenya ^[43]
44. Confusion of migrating birds ^[44]
45. Bigger tuna fish ^[45]
46. Water shortages in Las Vegas ^[46]
47. Worldwide hunger ^[46]
48. Longer days ^[47]
49. Earth spinning faster ^[48]
50. Gender balance of crocodiles ^[49]
51. Skin cancer deaths in UK ^[50]
52. Increase in kidney stones in India ^[51]
53. Penguin chicks frozen by global warming ^[52]
54. Deaths of Minnesota moose ^[53]
55. Increased threat of HIV/AIDS in developing countries ^[54]
56. Increase of wasps in Alaska ^[55]
57. Killer stingrays off British coasts ^[56]
58. All societal collapses since the beginning of time ^[57]
59. Bigger spiders ^[58]
60. Increase in size of giant squid ^[59]
61. Increase of orchids in UK ^[60]
62. Collapse of gingerbread houses in Sweden ^[61]
63. Cow infertility ^[62]
64. Conflict in Darfur ^[63]
65. Bluetongue outbreak in UK cows ^[64]
66. Worldwide wars ^[65]
67. Insomnia of children worried about global warming ^[66]
68. Anxiety problems for people worried about climate change ^[67]
69. Migration of cockroaches ^[68]
70. Taller mountains due to melting glaciers ^[69]
71. Drowning of four polar bears ^[70]
72. UFO sightings in the UK ^[71]
73. Hurricane Katrina ^[72]
74. Greener mountains in Sweden ^[73]
75. Decreased maple in maple trees ^[74]
76. Cold wave in India ^[75]
77. Worse traffic in LA because immigrants moving north ^[76]
78. Increase in heart attacks and strokes ^[77]
79. Rise in insurance premiums ^[78]
80. Invasion of European species of earthworm in UK ^[79]
81. Cold spells in Australia ^[80]
82. Increase in crime ^[81]
83. Boiling oceans ^[82]
84. Grizzly deaths ^[83]
85. Dengue fever ^[84]
86. Lack of monsoons ^[85]
87. Caterpillars devouring 45 towns in Liberia ^[86]
88. Acid rain recovery ^[87]
89. Global wheat shortage; food price hikes ^[88]
90. Extinction of 13 species in Bangladesh ^[89]
91. Changes in swan migration patterns in Siberia ^[90]
92. The early arrival of Turkey’s endangered caretta carettas ^[91]
93. Radical North Sea shift ^[92]
94. Heroin addiction ^[93]
95. Plant species climbing up mountains ^[94]
96. Deadly fires in Australia ^[95]
97. Droughts in Australia ^[96]
98. The demise of California’s agriculture by the end of the century ^[97]
99. Tsunami in South East Asia ^[98]
100. Fashion victim: the death of the winter wardrobe ^[99]
And the list goes on. The truth is climate change is causing some of these events, but the earth’s average temperature has been increasing and decreasing since ^[100]the beginning of time. Maybe the increase in UFO sightings can’t be pinpointed to climate change but certainly animals will adapt to new habitats as the climate changes. But climate change and adaptation to it is nothing new. There’s an underlying assumption that human activity is causing the climate to change in many of these stories, but the scientific consensus on what causes climate change is anything but a consensus. Temperatures have risen and fallen many times ^[101] before and the earth was cooling as recently as the period from the 1940s to the 1970s giving rise to fears ^[102]of a coming ice age:
“At the first Earth Day celebration, in 1969, environmentalist Nigel Calder warned, “The threat of a new ice age must now stand alongside nuclear war as a likely source of wholesale death and misery for mankind.” C.C. Wallen of the World Meteorological Organization said, “The cooling since 1940 has been large enough and consistent enough that it will not soon be reversed.”
The other implication of this list is that a reduction in Co2 with cap and trade policies like Waxman-Markey and Boxer-Kerry will cure problems as disparate as hurricanes, wars, crime, hunger and…cow infertility. The problem is that no one can actually claim that a reduction of Co2 will prevent these occurrences; one can only speculate that they will be worse in a world that has more rather than less Co2. Given cap and trade’s massive economic consequences ^[103] and negligible effects on the earth’s temperature ^[104], this is a bold and potentially very costly speculation.
Katie Brown co-authored this post.

Make Four Phone Calls Today: Two to Your Senators & Two More to These Guys

From the GOP:

** URGENT CALL TO ACTION **

After months working in secret behind closed doors, Harry Reid this week finally unveiled his 2,074-page government-run health care plan. His plan would increase health care premiums, increase taxes on families and small businesses by half a trillion dollars, cut Medicare by another half trillion dollars, and allow federal funds to be used for abortions. Click here for 10 things you should know about the bill.

Harry Reid has scheduled a critical vote this Saturday night that will allow the Senate to take-up his bill. If that vote succeeds, Harry Reid will be dangerously close to finally imposing President Obama's government-run health care scheme on America.

Two Democrat Senators - Ben Nelson (D-NE) and Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) - are critically important to defeating Saturday's vote. The RNC urges every concerned citizen to call Sens. Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln TODAY and tell them to vote against Harry Reid's liberal bill when it comes up for a vote on Saturday.

This is the best opportunity there will be to stop President Obama, Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi from imposing their government-run health care plan on America. Again, please call Sens. Ben Nelson and Blanche Lincoln TODAY and tell them to vote against Harry Reid's health care bill when it comes up for a vote on Saturday.

Oprah Announces TV Exit

Oprah Winfrey announced she will end her long-time TV show in 2011, after 25 years of broadcast.

Source

Winfrey told the audience that she loved "The Oprah Winfrey Show," that it had been her life and that she knew when it was time to say goodbye. "Twenty-five years feels right in my bones and feels right in my spirit," she said.

Not said by Ms. Winfrey, estimated to have a net worth of some $2.7 Billion, is that her audience ratings began to plummet when she came out for the first time and vocally supported a political candidate for the presidency.

Much like Barack Obama, that candidate, her ratings have been steadily dropping as the public begins looking at just what they bought into, both the in candidate and the TV host.

Obama's ratings continue to fall, in the double digit range, while Oprah's ratings are said to have slipped some 7% in the last year.

Tri Met "Fans:" Read This

Dear Portland-Vancouver area traveler,

We noticed you haven't yet completed the Portland Metro Travel Study, so
we decided to keep the survey open longer.

Metro is conducting an important travel study with the goal of better
understanding travelers' experiences using different types of transit
and different types of transit stops in Portland. Metro invites you to
share your thoughts and opinions about travel around Portland. All
transit and auto travelers are invited to take the 10 minute survey.
Your opinion counts!

To participate in this study, please go to the following link:
http://www.surveycafe.com/portland/resptype.asp?sname=w2095en

To ensure complete confidentiality, RSG, an independent market research
company, is conducting the survey for Metro. Your responses will remain
confidential and will never be linked back to you.

Please complete the survey by Wednesday, November 25, 2009. Copy the URL
and paste it into your web browser to take the survey. Further
instructions are located on the first page of the survey.

Thank you for your participation.

XXX Book Store Owner Sues Randy Leonard for Commissioner's Capricious Use of Law to Get Rid of Businesses He Doesn't Like

A couple of weeks ago I saw this sign (nearby) excoriating Randy Leonard for his "HIT" squad. Randy's HIT squad is made up of inspectors from three different Portland city bureaus (Police, Fire and Development Services) and personally directed by Randy ("I'll tear it down with my bare hands") Leonard himself. I'm a native Portlander, but even I couldn't remember what stood in the vacant lot now bearing the I hate Randy sign. So I did a little digging and found out it used to be Cindy's XXX Book Store. See the pictures of what the site used to look like nearby.
Previous stories by the Portland Tribune (which has done several stories about "Cindy's") and now recent ones by Willamette Week ( Here and here) follow the story of Leonard's heavy handed and, I believe, capricious use of city resources to shut down businesses he doesn't like. Now, I'm not a fan of porno shops, but unless Randy rewrites Oregon law to allow for legally zoning out flesh shops, theoretically he can do little about them. Unless, however, he gets his HIT squad in there to write ticket after ticket after ticket for code violations. So that's what he did. The Trib reported here:

The task force uses “very aggressive actions” including building and fire inspections, to shut down trouble spots that, Leonard said, are clearly “egregious” in their violations and linked to criminal activity. The tactics are “cutting edge,” and represent actions that “other cities shy away from,” Leonard said.

Doug Jones, supervising inspector at the Bureau of Fire, Rescue & Emergency Services, admits it looks a little strange that a 2005 inspection found only two code violations, while one earlier this year found 30.

 Randy also admits that his choice of targets is a bit subjective, telling Willamette Week,

“It’s like Justice Potter Stewart said about pornography,” Leonard says. “I can’t define it, but I know it when I see it.” 

Randy admits using heavy handed tactics, telling the Tribune:

“I make [the HIT team] call me, and I go through the building,” he says.
The combination of enforcement authority from three bureaus with different enforcement mechanisms gives the HIT team a potent arsenal.
“When you combine all three, you could find just about anything,” Leonard concedes.

Bureau employees say Cindy's is owned by four people, one of whom is a bad dude (who was prosecuted in connection with a murder and has served his sentence) and was the scene of a lot of illegal activity. They claim that these kinds of stores attract bad actors and increase the crime rate. Here's how the Trib reported it last year:

Cindy’s has long been a subject of police attention and neighbor complaints. But in the spring it came to the attention of a task force headed by city Commissioner Randy Leonard, one that has been conducting inspections of substandard downtown residential hotels to help clear out drug dealers and prostitutes. “Cindy’s has historically been a magnet for criminal activity,” says Portland Police Sgt. Matt Engen, who has worked Old Town for 12 years.

I'm sure Cindy's attracted a lot of bad folks doing bad things. I don't doubt that for a minute. But I wondered now that it's been bulldozed has the crime rate gone down? I wondered and consulted the city's website. I'll get comps on soon from 2006 or so but, seriously, how much worse can it get than this? Check out the crime rate NOW. Hint: where you see red is where really, really bad stuff happens. I'm no genius but there doesn't seem to be much of an improvement after Cindy's was bulldozed.
Randy is trying to clean up bad businesses. I appreciate that. The problem is picking and choosing the businesses you don't like for targeted enforcement is a prescription for abuse. This appears to have been what has happened. Well, at least that's what is alleged in the owners' $1 million dollar lawsuit against Randy and the city (story here). Randy admits he doesn't know exactly what qualifies a business as a target for a HIT squad action, but he knows it when he sees it. 
The Trib reported:

So far, Leonard says, the team has targeted eight or nine properties. Three were squalid single-occupancy hotels in Old Town. The city bought out the owner of the largest of the three, the Grove Hotel. Then the team went after Cindy’s Adult Bookstore, also in Old Town. The city shut it down and it was razed. Next came the Greek Cusina, forced into foreclosure by HIT team liens, and a single east-side target, an after-hours club called the Mansion, which has since been demolished.

The owners of the property claim the city is after their property because it's along their beloved 'couplet' and close to the Pearl. The site where Cindy's once stood is for sale, but in this economy no one is buying. And considering that slice of Burnside frontage real estate is on the city's radar no one would be willing to buy it at this point. The question is whether Randy is using city resources to bully Cindy's out of business so the city has more say in how the land is used by planners? Government is generally no good at picking winners and losers--even losers like porno shops. But nobody wins when property rights are trampled. Nobody.

Thank You, Congressman Kevin Brady for Saying it Out Loud

Here.

Dept Of Homeland Security Investigating Rev Manning

Hon. James David Manning, PhD, pastor of the ATLAH Church in Harlem and outspoken critic of Barack Hussein Obama has announced being visited and questioned by CIA agents claiming to be part of the Homeland Security about his criticism of Obama.

He expects imminent arrest.

Source & Video

Eco Trust Uses Company Email to Send Out "Drown Out Global Warming Deniers" at ManBearPig Event. Blame Us for Vandalism. Sure.

 
Dear ------,
Momentum is building and we need your help TODAY to keep it going. Join the conservation community and Yes for Oregon at ______________. tonight to drown out the global-warming-deniers.
The global-warming naysayers made the news today with their graffiti at Keller Auditorium, where Al Gore is speaking tonight. And the word is out about the Tea Party this evening outside the Gore event.
Many groups are organizing right now to outnumber the naysayers.------------- for details about where to go and when.
Your voice matters! Make it heard!

Patchouli * Smelling, Plastic Shoe Wearing, Al Gore Worshiping Protesters Rallying Troops to Counter Tea Party Protesters

*Thanks to 5th Listener who corrected my spelling
Daily Kos--the orb or, mecca, for the liberatti--is rallying the troops. They'll be gathering at Pioneer Square and marching up. As I understand it, the tickets for Gore's Shame-Spiral-It's-All-America's-Fault-for-Polar-Bear-Deaths Speaking Tour aren't even sold out.

I guess for their bunch it's cheaper to rally the Portland Professional Protesters than to buy them a ticket to get inside for the worship service.

Meantime, some of Portland Professional Protesters came early to vandalize the Keller. I heard about this on the news this morning and ran over to take some quick pix with my phone cam:

Meantime over at Bill Bradbury's (Al Gore acolyte) website (here) he's announcing that there are only 50 tickets left to the expensive affair for Bradbury's gubernatorial run.
Anybody got a thousand they can loan me?

Pricing

Students/Teachers:

$15

General Admission:

$25 (advance) / $40 (at the door)

Reserved Seating:

$500

Reserved Seating (Front Row):

$1,000
Reception with Al Gore prior to event:

A QUOTE TO "MAKE MY DAY" -- AND, HOPEFULLY YOURS

It's just...everybody's so screwed up. It seems like our country's in kind of a morbid mood, because of the recession or whatever....We're becoming more juvenile as a nation. The guys who won World War IIand that whole generation have disappeared, and now we have a bunch of teenage twits."

[Clint Eastwood, at 79 in 2009; from an interview in the current CQ Magazine." ]

By Rees Lloyd

Plain words from Clint Eastwood. Plainly true  about the WWII vets. So, here's a salute to all those WWII veterans from "the Greatest Generation," for your service to America in war and in peace. Indeed, we need you, and your WWII values, more than ever. 

For instance, the intolerant totalitarians of  the contemporary ACLU are today serving as legal counsel to the admitted Muslim terrorist Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and cohorts in trials in civilian courts in New York ordered by Barack Hussein Obama. At the same time, the ACLU, the Taliban of American liberal secularism, is suing to destroy our veterans memorials at the Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial, and the Mt. Soledad National Veterans Memorial because the ACLU, and its lawyers, like Barack Hussein Obama, and its mascot plaintiffs, are "offended" at the sight of a Cross honoring veterans at memorials. Does that define totalitarian "twitism"? Provide legal representation to an admitted Muslim terrorist "master-mind"? And sue memorials honoring American veterans because a Cross is included? 

For further instance of why  we need you WWII vets more than ever, is the fact that the Commander-in-Chief, Barack Hussein Obama, is jetting around the world (Global Warming and Climate Change notwithstanding) on a mission in which he is "apologizing" for America and quite literally "bowing" -- as no President has done -- to such as the Wahabist Muslim dictator of Saudi Arabia, and the present Emperor of Japan, son of the Emperor who ruled then-fascist Japan in WWII, when Japan attacked America at Pearl Harbor and joined the fascist Axis (Japan, Germany, Italy) to conquer and rule the world -- until stopped by the 16-million Americans who served in WWII and allied forces from democracies. 

That victory in WWII, which could not have been achieved without the service and sacrifice of American veterans, saved the world from domination by the fascism of Hitler's Germany, Mussolini's Italy, and the Emperor's Japan. It  should never be the subject of an "apology." And no American, least of all the President and Commander-in-Chief should "bow" in submission to any foreign power, let alone those who tried to, or are trying to, destroy American freedom.

Nor should Barack Hussein Obama or any  juvenile (i.e., adult adolescent) "twit" around him (Vance Jones, ACORNites, Mrs.Dunn of "I-Love-Obama" fame)  apologize in the name of Americans for the service and sacrifice by American veterans in the Korean War, then the Cold War, then the hot war in Vietnam, which held off communism until it collapsed of its own contradictions in the Soviet Union, and transfigured itself in Mao's Red China, silencing internationally the  communist call for "Workers of the World-Unite!" to establish worldwide "proletarian dictatorship." 

That once universal slogan of international communism is no longer credible because American veterans fought it. The slogan, in fact,  is no longer heard publicly in world capitols -- except in Washington, D.C., in Barack Hussein Obama's transformed America, in which "Workers of the World--Unite!" is the revived slogan and professed "way of doing business"  of SEIU social-worker cum union boss of mainly government workers, Andy Stern, confidant of Barack Hussein Obama, and Obama's most frequent guest at the White House. Is that a confidence builder? 

How about Stern's oft-expressed policy: "We will use the power of persuasion. But, if that doesn't work, we will use the persuasion of power." Does that explain why SEIU thugs under Stern were videoed beating up a citizen (a black man) at a Townhall Meeting--but more than three months later there are no prosecutions?

Finally, it should be said, that there should be no "apology" by the American Commander-in-Chief for the service and sacrifice of all those veterans who have served in "Operation Desert Storm," and in the War Against Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, including those serving there today.

There should be no "apologies" for fighting Muslim terrorists, nor any "bowing" before before those heads of governments which aid and abet them by providing funds or safe havens for them. Nor should there a refusal to identify with plain language Muslim jihadist terrorism as precisely that, whether overseas, at Ft. Hood, or anywhere it exists.

Manifestly, there cannot be indecision by a President and Commander-in-Chief Voting "present" is not an option any longer. It is not possible for a Commander-in-Chief to avoid responsibility, or political consequences of his "base," by refusing to make decision on the request for more troops by the commander-in-the-field that Obama appointed states that they are needed. Voting "present" is not an option for one who seeks to be the "Commander-in-Chief."

As stated by Bing West, former U.S. Marine infantryman in Vietnam and an assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs in the Reagan administration, in the conclusion of his important analysis entitled "The View From Man Bear Pig: On the ground in Afghanistan, it's still a question of power, not politics[,]" in the current National Review (11/23/09): 

"America's dithering has made us look weak and has encouraged our enemies. Let us hope the president decides to send in the troops -- and then stays out of the play-calling."

[Rees Lloyd is a longtime civil rights attorney and an activist in veterans affairs.]

City of Portland Pays People to Christmas Shop

We know all about paying poor people to live here through subsidies and enticing illegal aliens to come and stay in Portland via a variety of services offered such as an illegal jobs center, but I think the crowd at City Hall and their buddies have sunk to a new low: using more taxpayer funds to pay people to shop.
I'm all for private industry doing whatever is legal to get the peeps to buy their stuff, but a CITY using TAXPAYER FUNDS to pay people to shop downtown??
God bless KATU (story here) for splashing this story out there last night. H/T Alert 5th Listener who tipped me off during the show. The folks at the city sanctioned downtown business group are offering free parking and a $50 dollar gift card for people who have spent another 50 bucks downtown. And they're paying for it from parking meter money. Parking meter money is city money. In fact, the city recently has seen fit to extend the time people have to pay for parking! Using this money means that at some point there will be less money to spend on whatever it is the parking meter money is usually used for and the taxpayers will have to back fill that.
The City officials who read this blog post today (hey guys!) will dismiss this as a Victoria rant against the City of Portland. You guys need to take a chill pill, look in the mirror and read on.
Consider the following items that, in addition to the recession, have kept shoppers away from downtown:

• 1. The City Council failing, FAILING, to Stand Up for What's Right and demanding Sam Adams resign for having sex with a teenager. Hint: normal people find it ookity that a 40 something man grooms a 17 year old for sex, goes to his 18th "He's Legal!" birthday party, beds him three days later and then lies about it to keep voters in the dark. Obviously Sam thought this was wrong, that's why he LIED about it. The Council should be ashamed. THIS BEHAVIOR IS REPUGNANT AND REPELS PEOPLE WHO COME TO DOWNTOWN TO SHOP.
  
• 2. Discriminating against certain groups of taxpayers who use out of favor transportation modes. From using taxpayer money to cut off entire neighborhoods to cars in an alliance with an international car hating group, extending parking meter hours and days and then planting them in and around well used parks to discourage car use, declaring out loud that you want to improve bridge across the Columbia but don't want anyone to 'actually drive on it,' saying that 'we can't have this laissez faire-going-anywhere-you-want-when-you-want' attitude in Portland. Randy, they call that FREEDOM. Try it sometime.
  
• 3. People don't feel safe downtown. Hot and cold running panhandlers populate each street corner. Turf battles ensue if one spiked triceratopped death goth takes the hippy with the yoga mat's 'spot.' And don't even get me started on a the Greenpeace predators. Panhandlers have taken to dressing up in animal costumes to attract business! New York Times best selling author, Vince Flynn, in town on his book tour last month, told me he was "s'panged" no fewer than five times in a one block span. Oh, and your grandiose plans to use city taxpayer funds to "End Homelessness in Ten Years?" Yah, ain't gonna happen. You guys forget a lot of the professional homeless folks have the internet and can read all about it. Last winter a couple was interviewed by KGW outside the Union Gospel Mission and revealed they had come from Texas to Portland because THEY READ ABOUT THE TEN YEAR PLAN TO END HOMELESSNESS while surfing the internet IN THEIR APARTMENT and decided to come here TO GET A FREE HOME. You guys forget, the idea to pay people to shop in downtown Portland is the same idea behind attracting people by giving them, hey...wait a minute...free stuff! 
• 4. You have become the NW version of the New Orleans Levee Boards. You use our hard earned taxpayer $$ for everything else BUT what you're supposed to do. You buy street cars, bully land owners from their icky, but legal businesses, and let protesters bully out at least two businesses--probably more--from their, raise our taxes, tells us it's all in the name of 'green' because Al Gore says so, declare 'trees have rights' and expect us to think you're sane. Are ya kidding us?  When it hits the fan, we may not have decent maintained existing infrastructure, but, doggone it,  that tram looked good, didn't it?
  

If you'd bothered to treat businesses as helpful instead of as cash machines, reduced their taxes, paid respect to the sensibilities of the people paying the bills, and gave us a real say (not just your machine politics, preordained outcome neighbhood association shills) you might have built up good will among folks and attracted shoppers downtown the old fashioned way: by earning it.

Tom Joscelyn: The Al Qaeda Civil Liberties Union

  Here's the way Tom Joscelyn's piece in the Weekly Standard starts out:

"I'll talk to you guys after I get to New York and see my lawyer."
That, according to former Director of Central Intelligence George Tenet, is what September 11 planner Khalid Sheikh Mohammed (KSM) said when he was captured in March 2003.
But of course the Bush administration did not grant KSM his wish. Instead, the master terrorist was seen as a potentially vital source of intelligence on al Qaeda, which had caught America sleeping less than two years earlier. If U.S. intelligence officials could get him to talk, the Bush administration and the U.S. intelligence community reasoned, then they could learn many of al Qaeda's well-guarded secrets.

The rest is here. 

AL GORE'S (at least) 35 LIES TOLD IN HIS INCONVENIENT TRUTH

Remember when a British court held that Gore's movie about ManBearPig was a political viewpoint and contained many scientific errors and, as a result, was not to be shown to students unless the ERRORS were fixed? (see the list below). And remember when Lord Monckton found 35 ERRORS in Gore's production?  The errors included:
rising sea levels by 6m, Pacific islands going underwater, CO2 driving temperature, snows of Kilaminjaro "melting," Lake Chad "drying up," Hurricane Katrina "man made," polar bears "dying," hurricanes "getting stronger," and on and on and on it goes (Lord Monckton's Take Down of Al Gore's Lies ).





"...the judge ruled that the "apocalyptic vision" presented in the film was politically partisan and thus not an impartial scientific analysis of climate change.

It is, he ruled, a "political film".

The nine alleged errors in the film

1. Mr Gore claims that a sea-level rise of up to 20 feet would be caused by melting of either West Antarctica or Greenland "in the near future". The judge said: "This is distinctly alarmist and part of Mr Gore's "wake-up call". He agreed that if Greenland melted it would release this amount of water - "but only after, and over, millennia"."The Armageddon scenario he predicts, insofar as it suggests that sea level rises of seven metres might occur in the immediate future, is not in line with the scientific consensus."

2. The film claims that low-lying inhabited Pacific atolls "are being inundated because of anthropogenic global warming" but the judge ruled there was no evidence of any evacuation having yet happened.

3. The documentary speaks of global warming "shutting down the Ocean Conveyor" - the process by which the Gulf Stream is carried over the North Atlantic to western Europe. Citing the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the judge said that it was "very unlikely" that the Ocean Conveyor, also known as the Meridional Overturning Circulation, would shut down in the future, though it might slow down.

4. Mr Gore claims that two graphs, one plotting a rise in C02 and the other the rise in temperature over a period of 650,000 years, showed "an exact fit". The judge said that, although there was general scientific agreement that there was a connection, "the two graphs do not establish what Mr Gore asserts".

5. Mr Gore says the disappearance of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro was directly attributable to global warming, but the judge ruled that it scientists have not established that the recession of snow on Mt Kilimanjaro is primarily attributable to human-induced climate change.

6. The film contends that the drying up of Lake Chad is a prime example of a catastrophic result of global warming but the judge said there was insufficient evidence, and that "it is apparently considered to be far more likely to result from other factors, such as population increase and over-grazing, and regional climate variability."

7. Mr Gore blames Hurricane Katrina and the consequent devastation in New Orleans on global warming, but the judge ruled there was "insufficient evidence to show that".

8. Mr Gore cites a scientific study that shows, for the first time, that polar bears were being found after drowning from "swimming long distances - up to 60 miles - to find the ice" The judge said: "The only scientific study that either side before me can find is one which indicates that four polar bears have recently been found drowned because of a storm."That was not to say there might not in future be drowning-related deaths of bears if the trend of regression of pack ice continued - "but it plainly does not support Mr Gore's description".

9. Mr Gore said that coral reefs all over the world were being bleached because of global warming and other factors. Again citing the IPCC, the judge agreed that, if temperatures were to rise by 1-3 degrees centigrade, there would be increased coral bleaching and mortality, unless the coral could adapt. However, he ruled that separating the impacts of stresses due to climate change from other stresses, such as over-fishing, and pollution was difficult.

A Government spokesman said he would not make any further comment on the case today."

EPA Atty's Speak Out

If You Can't Withstand a Challenge to Your Ideas You Challenge a Fight?

Competitive Enterprise Institute Calls on Al Gore to Debate Global Warming With Lord Monckton

End the ACLU Assault on Veterans Memorials by Rees Lloyd

Rees recently wrote an op ed for a southern California newspaper (here) and invited me to post it. For those long time blog readers this is a story you've heard before, but for you newbies welcome to the terrordome.

On Veterans Day, many Americans visited veterans memorials as Americans have for years. Today, however, veterans memorials on public land are under threat from establishment of religion clause lawsuits.
These lawsuits are being filed by the American Civil Liberties Union on the behalf of individuals who complain that they are offended by the sight of a cross at a veterans memorial. Although generally unknown to most Americans, the ACLU seeks and receives millions in judge-ordered, taxpayer-paid attorneys' fees in these cases.
The U.S. Supreme Court will render its decision this term in one such case (Buono v. Salazar) regarding a World War II veterans memorial cross in the Mojave Desert National Preserve ("Supreme Court at crossroads over fate of Mojave cross," Oct. 8). A similar case involving a veterans memorial cross at Mount Soledad is before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals (Trunk, et al. v. U.S.). It also appears certain to go to the U.S. Supreme Court.
At stake in these court cases is whether 300 million Americans shall have the right to choose how they will honor their war dead and other veterans or whether a veto power over those decisions shall be held by the ACLU or a single individual who claims "offense" at the sight of a cross honoring veterans. Thus, the importance of these court cases cannot be overstated.
However, I respectfully suggest that such issues, which fundamentally affect and shape our national culture and character, should not be decided by the courts. It is time for Congress to act to protect our veterans memorials from abusive Establishment Clause lawsuits by the ACLU, which has become the Taliban of American liberal secularism, and other fanatical organizations.
Congress is empowered under the Constitution to determine the jurisdiction of the courts other than the U.S. Supreme Court. Congress should exercise its authority to remove claims against veterans memorials and cemeteries from the jurisdiction of the courts. Congress should provide instead a right of redress before forums in which the public may participate and be heard, not just lawyers.
By doing so, Congress would also end the ACLU's exploitation of the Civil Rights Attorney Fees Act of 1976. That is, by filing lawsuits against veterans memorials, the Boy Scouts, public seals, and public symbols of America's history, the ACLU earns enormous profits from judge-ordered, taxpayer-paid attorney fee awards. The ACLU has used the threat of imposition of such attorney fees to coerce elected bodies to surrender to its demands without a fight, as the city of Redlands and the county of Los Angeles reluctantly did when the ACLU threatened to sue if they did not remove the cross from their official seals.
Riverside County, home to Riverside National Cemetery, has a particular interest in this issue. It is the decision of a U.S. district judge sitting in Riverside who ordered the Mojave Desert cross destroyed at the request of ACLU which is before the Supreme Court.
It was Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Redlands, who achieved legislation transferring the Mojave memorial site to private hands in exchange for five acres of private land to solve any perceived problem. The ACLU objected. The U.S. Supreme Court will decide.
It was veterans in American Legion Riverside Post 79 and District 21, which represents 6,000 wartime veterans in 22 posts in Riverside County, who sponsored American Legion Resolution 326, "Preserve Mojave Desert Veterans Memorial." This resolution, which I authored, led to the Legion's nationwide crusade to fight the ACLU in Congress and in the courts aided by the Alliance Defense Fund, Liberty Legal Institute, Thomas More Law Center and other organizations.
Furthermore, this effort was inspired by the late, legendary American Legionnaire and Riverside native Robert J. "Uncle Bobby" Castillo, a Purple Heart survivor of the D-Day landing, who said: "How can the ACLU sue our veterans memorials here in California at Mojave and at Mount Soledad? What about Arlington? Will they sue Arlington Cemetery next? Will they sue the American Cemetery in France at Normandy Beach? There are over 9,000 crosses and Stars of David there. We can't let the ACLU do this. We have to fight them. My buddies are buried there."
Congress, the courts, and all of us who are free because of veterans like Castillo, should hear, and heed, that good man's heartfelt words.
Rees Lloyd, of Banning, is a civil rights attorney and former ACLU of Southern California Foundation staff attorney. He is the co-founder and director of the Defense of Veterans Memorials Project of the American Legion Department of California.

Al Gore (ManBearPig) Coming to Keller Wednesday NIght. Why Don't You Go Greet Him?

The Sign in Front of a Vacant Lot on 4th & Burnside by Chinatown

Same Story, Different Year: Big Green=Big Green $$

They sell pictures of dead, bloody baby seals that haven't been hunted for years; polar bears that are no where close to being, "endangered;" spotted owls who, instead of being hunted into endangerment by loggers, are being preyed upon by natural predator, the barred owl. They present global warming as being caused by SUV's when warming (or cooling) isn't remotely caused by man. Millions, no BILLIONS of dollars hang in the balance for the grievance group that can sell the disaster, sue to "stop" the disaster, make a buck on the derivatives (how's business ManBearPig?) from the disaster. The truth doesn't matter, because Environment, Inc., isn't set up to tell the truth about the envirnoment, it's set up to SELL GUILT about phony DISASTERS about the environment and hence keep the dollars rolling in to stay in the business of selling disaster about the environment.  It's the biggest scam of all time. Think Enron meets Bernie Madoff. But this one is given a green cloak and sold as being altruistic. It's a story told years ago by Sacramento Bee reporter, Tom Knudson. His seminal 2001 investigative series entitle, Environment Inc. (the series can be found here; it's no longer on the Bee website), for the first time in the mainstream media made the obvious observation,

Although environmental organizations have accomplished many stirring and important victories over the years, today groups prosper while the land does not. Competition for money and members is keen. Litigation is a blood sport. Crisis, real or not, is a commodity. And slogans and sound bites masquerade as scientific fact.
Five other major groups - including household names such as Greenpeace and the Sierra Club - spend so much on fund raising, membership and overhead they don't meet standards set by philanthropic watchdog groups.
It's not just the cost of raising money that catches attention these days. It is the nature of the fund-raising pitches themselves.
"What works with direct mail? The answer is crisis. Threats and crisis," said Beard, the Audubon Society chief operating officer.

And, Knudson found, the environmental groups were great at selling guilt and lies, but not too good at actually properly spending cash. He found that in 1999, the last year for which numbers were available when he wrote his series,

Six national environmental groups spend so much on fund raising and overhead they don't have enough left to meet the minimum benchmark for environmental spending - 60 percent of annual expenses - recommended by charity watchdog organizations. Eleven of the nation's 20 largest include fund-raising bills in their tally of money spent protecting the environment, but don't make that clear to members.

And check out here how they file lawsuits and gauge the taxpayers. Read the part on how the environmental groups charge US taxpayers for talking to the news media. Apparently that's legal work these days. Uh, huh.

And now (H/T Craig) we see that the latest numbers are out on the bottom lines of the green grievance industry. Human Events has amassed the numbers. It may not be "easy being green," but if you're selling green you're making bank. The comments following the listing are all mine.
Top 10 Richest Green Groups

by Human Events
11/16/2009
Capital Research Center (capitalresearch.org) compiled this list for HUMAN EVENTS using the annual budget figures from the groups’ most recent publicly available tax returns. A 501c3 group is a general nonprofit and a 501c4 group is an advocacy nonprofit.
1. Nature Conservancy (501c3)
$910.7 million
The Nature Conservancy convinces land owners to give their land over to the conservancy to get a sweet tax exemption while they remain above the sod. The land reverts to the conservancy after you die. Sorry, kids! The spotted owls are getting your inheritance!
2. Wildlife Conservation Society (501c3)
$197.4 million
The WCS is saving seals and tigers and creating "wildlife patrols" to go out and stick it to the poachers. We don't know if they're saving anything endangered but the pictures on their website are really good. Holy crap, look what kind of bennies you get working for this "non profit" organization. Sheez, it makes
that hospital gig of Michelle Obama's look downright common!
Benefits of employment include paid time off, health insurance, flexible spending accounts, 401(K) retirement savings plan and employer match, pension plan, and tuition reimbursement
3. World Wildlife Fund (501c3)
$169.5 million
Teresa Heinz Kerry helps support this organization which is tasked with "saving" polar bears. They also sport a clock on their website which counts down to Copenhagen. It's like they're keeping track of pay day...or something.
4. Environmental Defense Fund (501c3)
$122.8 million
The slogan on their website reads: Don't let corporate polluters and special interests hijack America's clean energy future. Sure. Let's let the corporate green grievance groups hijack the message about America's clean energy future which should include drilling and nuclear power. They make bank filing lawsuits.
Oh, and look:
Environmental Defense Fund is an Equal Opportunity Employer.
Somehow I doubt that.
5. Natural Resources Defense Council (501c3)
$108 million
The earth has another high fallutin' litigator. But these guys claim to be the, "most effective environmental group." They've got jobs, jobs, jobs available! Dude, the gig must be worthwhile because it includes health care, vision, dental, life insurance and, if you stay there for 15 years, a 14% match on your 401k. Sweet! Life is good in the environmental movement. No word about the baby seals, however.
6. National Audubon Society (501c3)
$92.7 million
I loves me some birds--I'm a member of the local Audubon Society--but their claim about global warming is, well, alarming,

"Global warming is the biggest environmental threat of our lifetime. The time to act is now!"

Can we just worry about the nuthatches and titmice and stop with the phony hype about global warming? That smokestack picture is pretty hot, though.

7. National Wildlife Federation (501c3)

$90.1 million

This organization claims to want to protect wildlife, "for our children's future." They put out the crowd pleasing Ranger Rick magazine. I see they've gotten the memo on global warming. Here's what it says on their webpage:

"Global Warming is the single biggest threat to wildlife today. Global warming is happening faster than predicted even several years ago, with many natural systems already seriously impacted.Overwhelming scientific evidence supports reducing carbon pollution that causes global warming as much as possible and as quickly as possible."

I'm sorry Ma'am, but the data on the MiG is inaccurate.

8. Sierra Club (501c4)

$81.8 million

A few years ago the Sierra Club got into some political trouble when it came out against illegal immigration. Of course they were right about illegal immigration, but not for the reasons they cited. See people like me just think illegal is illegal, but the Sierra Club said too many people would use up too many resources. They'd probably be happy if we all killed ourselves or something, but eventually they retreated on their impolitical viewpoint. Now they just beat the drum about global warming, et al, and have moved into the environmentalism-as-social-justice movement.

9. Sierra Club Foundation (501c3)

$29.9 million

The foundation is where the magic happens. They've got fewer dollars than big mama SC 501c4, but this organization gives grants and opines on great things like man made global warming and clean energy. They even boast a Portlander on their board,

Michael McCloskey, Portland, Oregon; Retired Sierra Club Executive Director

10. Greenpeace Inc. (501c3)

$26.3 million

It's surprising that Greenpeace is 10th on the list. Considering they have hot and cold running beggars on every street corner in downtown Portland you'd think they'd be making serious bank. But, apparently they've caught their limit of clueless college students and people who sign up just to shut them up. ESPECIALLY when they find out that they've just given these altruistic, philanthropic, seal loving, PREDATORS access to their checking accounts. And...big green uses that access. Oh, yes it does.

Try getting out of your Greenpeace "membership." I double dare you. Amway's got nothing on this group.

How To Panic Liberals In One Minute or Less

Hot on the heels of Bow-gate, Lix Cheney succeeded in causing a bit of a panicked uproar on the Huffington Post when she suggested, "Dick Cheney 2012" on Fox News Sunday today as he did not bow when he met with the Japanese Emperor some time ago.



Desperate over Oba Mao's bowing to the Japanese Emperor, Huffington Post can only link to a blog that succeeded in finding a handful of photos that appear as if former President, Dwight D. Eisenhower bows before some people in 1959 (believed).

They have to go back 50 years to find something that appears like a bow?

Two things left unexplained. Who defended Eisenhower back then, and who in the photos is foreign Royalty!

America Loses Another Medal Of Honor Hero

"Use grenades and cold steel!"

Col. Lewis Lee Millett, a Medal of Honor recipient, has transferred to Post Everlasting. He resided for many years in the mountain community of Idyllwild in the San Gorgonio Pass area of Riverside County, CA. I am forwarding for your information the story of his passing in the Riverside Press-Enterprise.

Medal of Honor recipient Lewis Millett dies at age 88

A veteran of WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, Col. Millett, 88, was one of a kind, and a force unto himself, full of life to its end, with his U.S. Army beret, dashing handle-bar mustache, and jaunty demeanor. He was extremely well-known among veterans because of his presence at so many events and ceremonies pertaining to veterans and their families, even when wheel-chair bound. He was a Life Member of The American Legion.

Col. Millett was awarded the Medal of Honor for valor in the Korean War, to which he was called to service as a member of the National Guard. He noted his membership in the National Guard as the keynote speaker in ceremonies at the National Guard Armory in Banning when he and the San Gorgonio Pass community welcomed home a new generation of California National Guard soldiers who had been called to combat duty in the war against terrorism in Iraq.

[From Wiki: On February 7, 1951, Millett led his men up Hill 180 as part of Operation Punch. Throwing grenades, turning back to call for more firepower when he saw the ground ahead crawling with Chinese soldiers, he seemed constantly upright and exposed standing under fire, urging the others on. At the crest he suffered fragmentation wounds from a grenade. The men saw him silhouetted on the skyline and heard him shouting "Use grenades and cold steel!" Of 47 enemy dead, 18 had been killed by bayonet. For his courage and leadership in the action, Captain Millett was awarded the Medal of Honor.[2]  Millett was presented the Medal of Honor on July 5, 1951 by President Harry S. Truman in a White House ceremony.]

d from Wiki:

Col. Millett donated many hours of service at Riverside National Cemetery, where he is one of the Medal of Honor recipients honored at the United States National Medal of Honor Memorial. Nearby at RNC is the U.S. National P.O.W./M.I.A. Memorial, the centerpiece of which is a dramatic sculpture of a bound prisoner of war, kneeling and looking heavenward in an attitude of prayer. It was sculpted by Col. Millett's son, Vietnam War veteran and artist, Lewis Lee Millett, Jr., who waived the entire artist's commission so that the whole memorial, paid for by donations not tax funds, could be completed. Col. Millett joined his Vietnam veteran son at the dedication of the P.O.W./M.I.A. Memorial in his full U.S. Army Uniform.

America has lost one of its bravest, most patriotic, and most colorful, native sons and military heroes, Col. Lewis Lee Millett. May his God and country embrace him as he embraced, and served, each of them.

Please see Medal of Honor recipient Lewis Millett dies at age 88 for more details.

Submitted by

Rees Lloyd
Past Commander and Scribe, District 21 (Riverside County)
The American Legion Dept. of California

Until we all meet again in Flanders Field, Colonel. Rest in Peace, Sir, Well Done.

China Prepares to Greet 'Oba Mao'

Oba Mao? Do they realize something Democrats do not?

St Louis Liberals Health Care Rally

H/T to Publius at BigGovernment.com



Suppose they gave a rally and nobody came, LOL.

NOW Obama Considers The Costs?

After trillions of dollars in debt, billions thrown about on cash for clunkers, first time home buyer credit, bail outs of wall street, banks and corporations, now Obama is concerned about the cost of protecting America and our Troops fighting terrorists?

High Costs Weigh on Troop Debate for Afghan War

"While President Obama’s decision about sending more troops to Afghanistan is primarily a military one, it also has substantial budget implications that are adding pressure to limit the commitment, senior administration officials say.

The latest internal government estimates place the cost of adding 40,000 American troops and sharply expanding the Afghan security forces, as favored by Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, the top American and allied commander in Afghanistan, at $40 billion to $54 billion a year, the officials said."

How much did September 11, 2001 cost?

How much did the lives of 13 unarmed people, 12 of them soldiers, at Ft. Hood cost?

How much is Obamacare projected to cost?

How much does it cost to flitter around all over the globe apologizing for America?

How much is cap & Trade expected to cost?

"The administration has projected that spending on Iraq would drop by $25.8 billion in fiscal 2010, to $60.8 billion, as most of the troops withdraw.

It also expected spending on the Afghanistan war to increase by $18.5 billion in fiscal 2010, to $65.4 billion, for a net savings on the two wars of $7.3 billion, if no more troops were added."

Where was all this "concern" as the administration plunged us trillions deeper into debt?

Obama Bows To Emperor of Japan

Apparently, Obama forgot again that American Presidents do not bow to foreign royalty. Once again, against all protocol, Obama deeply bows to Japan's Emperor Akihito.



Obama came under fire just mere months ago for his obvious bow to the King of Saudi Arabia, which White House staff denied he actually did.



Given his penchant for bowing and his apparent inability to make a decision on reinforcing our Troops in Afghanistan, maybe he should just "bow out" and let a real leader take over.

UPDATE: "A senior administration official said President Barack Obama was simply observing protocol when he bowed to Japanese Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko upon arriving at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo on Saturday."

So, when did protocol change? Politico

Mr Obama, Our Troops Are Dying!

A Blue Star Mom's video letter to Barack Hussein Obama,



Obama, if you aren't going to support and back up our Troops, get them out of there. They don't need to be cannon fodder just to feed your inflated ego. Three months and still, no decision and all ideas rejected?

Oh, but how I miss George W. Bush.

It's Worse Than a Pre 9/11 Mentality: Andy McCarthy

‘September 10 America.” The phrase signifies a reprise of the “terrorism is just a crime” mindset that reigned in the years before the 9/11 attacks. Like other observers, I’ve groused in recent months that we are back to that self-destructive ethos. I was wrong. If the Fort Hood atrocity tells us anything, it is that things are much worse than they were before 9/11.
Read the rest here

November 13th, 1982

H/T Rees Lloyd
(pictured: The Vietnam War Memorial in DC and below the replica of The Wall visiting Portland in 2007)

American Minute with Bill Federer

November 13

The Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated NOVEMBER 13, 1982, honoring 58,000 American troops who died.

U.S. forces inflicted over a million enemy fatalities, yet politicians did not allow a victory.

A former Communist North Vietnamese colonel, Bui Tin, called the American "peace movement" essential:

"Every day our leadership would listen to the world news over the radio to follow the growth of the American anti-war movement.

Visits to Hanoi by people like Jane Fonda and former Attorney General Ramsey Clark gave us confidence that we should hold on in the face of battlefield reverses."

On October 12, 1967, during Operation Medina, Marine Sergeant George Hutchings of Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 1st Marine Division, had a dozen men killed around him when ambushed by North Vietnamese in the Hai Lang jungle.

Months later, after numerous battles, George was shot three times, bayoneted and left for dead.

He survived and was later awarded the Purple Heart. 

Of the Vietnam Memorial, George Hutchings said:

"On that wall is the name of Corporal Quinton Bice, who was hit in the chest with a rocket running a patrol in my place.

A Christian, he had shared the Gospel with me, but I didn't understand it till he gave his life in my place."

ACORN, You Might Want to Hold Your Fire Against Gov't

Until we see what Big Government is bringing out about your LA ops next. Here.

Back to September 10th: KSM Will Be Tried in NY---Just Like His Nephew in First WTC Bombing

President Obama and his AG Eric Holder plan to take Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the USS Cole bomber and other terrorists from Gitmo and bring them to New York for trial (here).  [UPDATED NOTE: The administration has since said the Cole bomber will not be tried in NY but rather in a military tribunal]. Andy McCarthy argues in his book Willful Blindness: A Memoir of Jihad, that prosecuting terrorists is a fool's errand because US Courts are not up to the task of properly prosecuting jihadists. Sure, McCarthy nabbed a few (including KSM's nephew Ramzi Yousef) when he prosecuted several for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, but many co conspirators disappeared into the ether--after the process of mutual discovery resulted in the co conspirator's list getting into the hands of the terrorist community. It really won't matter what KSM and the Cole bomber and the rest admitted to (see KSM's confession nearby), it probably won't be admissible seeing as how it was obtained by an interrogation method that domestic law enforcement can't use. In other words, President Obama and AG Eric Holder will oversee a show trial which will result in either lesser charges being brought, no convictions on the main charges, or a dismissal of charges. All of those results are, to say the least, unsatisfying. All of those make a mockery of what happened on 9/11 and to the 17 sailors who died in Yemen aboard the USS Cole. And worse, McCarthy notes in the National Review last month (here), that if KSM et al ARE released, they'd be released--free--on US soil. 

If Guantanamo Bay is closed, scores of trained jihadists, committed to killing Americans, will be released to dwell among us: It is that simple.

Pres. Barack Obama and Attorney General Eric Holder contend that America's civilian federal prisons are secure. Our "supermaxes," they insist, are up to the task of confining the most lethal terrorists. Even if that were true (and history shows it is not), the argument is the most hollow of strawmen. These terrorists are not going to escape - they are going to walk right out the prison gates. They are going to be freed by a perverse new legal system, an ad hoc creation of progressive federal judges, assisted mightily by an Obama Justice Department rife with lawyers whose former firms and institutions spent the last eight years representing America's enemies.

The civilian criminal-justice system is neither designed for nor capable of handling wartime detention cases. The basic presumptions of the civilian system - innocence, privacy, the preference that the prosecution lose any case in which there is the slightest doubt about guilt - have no bearing on the detention of enemy operatives in wartime. Yet, international terrorists present challenges that traditional enemy combatants do not: They do not wear uniforms, they do not carry their weapons openly, they conduct their operations in secret, and they blend into the general population, intentionally creating ambiguity about whether they are combatants or civilians.

When Eric Holder isn't busy speaking with Hamas supporting groups and pretending terrorists don't exist at Fort Hood, he's attempting to dismantle the only construct, albeit flawed, for contending with the worst of the worst. Gitmo may not be perfect, but it's the only thing that makes sense---unless we just kill the bad guys.

Who's the Real Threat?

And 99 cent Chalupas Are Available, Too

The Real Reason California is in Fiscal Crisis

H/T to G
Perhaps because it wastes money on jobs like this:
University of California Santa Cruz,
Santa Cruz, California
Salary: $50,000 - $79,999 Status: Full-time Posted: 11/10/09 Deadline: 03/01/10


Grateful Dead Archivist UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SANTA CRUZ

Grateful Dead Archivist
Status: Full-time
Posted: 11/09/09
Deadline: Initial Review Date, 12/04/09

The University Library of the University of California, Santa Cruz, seeks an enterprising, creative, and service-oriented archivist to join the staff of Special Collections & Archives (SC&A) as Archivist for the Grateful Dead Archive. This is an academic librarian professional position. The Archivist will be part of a dynamic, collegial, and highly motivated department dedicated to building, preserving, promoting, and providing maximum access both physically and virtually to one of the Library’s most exciting and unique collections, The Grateful Dead Archive (GDA). The UCSC University Library utilizes innovative approaches to allow the discovery, use, management, and sharing of information in support of research, teaching, and learning.

Appointment Range: Associate Librarian III – Librarian I, with an approximate salary range of $52,860 – $68,892, commensurate with qualifications and experience. For the full posting: http://library.ucsc.edu/about/job-opportunities.

The University of California, Santa Cruz is an Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity Employer.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Today's Story:

Sources tells CBS News that investigators are continuing to look for any possible ties between the alleged Fort Hood shooter, Major Nidal Malik  Hasan, and terrorist groups including the Muslim Brotherhood, an affiliate of Hamas.

The Muslim Brotherhood operates behind the scenes in the United States and seeks to subtly place individuals into influential positions in the academic, legal or medical professions to further their cause of undermining the United States.

Investigators are also looking at whether Hasan was supporting Islamic charities overseas--charities which may have been funneling money to terrorist organizations.

While officials continue to probe Hasan's possible ties to terrorists, at this point they still believe strongly that he acted alone.

Yesterday's Story (From Jihad Watch):

(here)

Attorney General to speak to Hamas-linked CAIR despite FBI ban

Right after Dawud Walid of CAIR-Michigan was defending the jihadist imam who was killed in a shootout with the FBI. Yet another Which-Side-Is-Obama-On Alert: "Despite ban, Holder to speak to CAIR-linked group," from Politico, November .

Who Are These People? Who is the Fort Hood Killer?

H/T 5th Listener. What a refreshing changing of pace. The G-43 lays it out.

NW Reporter: Speaker Pelosi, is it Fair to Send People to Jail if They Don't Buy Health Insurance?

Thank you KOMO reporter boy for asking an excellent question. Note, we got the answer, too.

I Borrowed Money From My Bank Account to Pay Back Some of the Money I Borrowed from My Bank Account

"White House Aims to Cut Deficit With TARP Cash" Here.
Maybe I'm just not up to the task of understanding the world of high finance but does this make any sense? Don't you just send it all back where you got it? Or is the point that they want to have command and control over the $ in case they need to give some to another favored buddy but are acting like they're buying down the debt?

Joe Biden's Dye Job

Now it appears he's going blonde. Are those still his hairplugs?  I get most of my blonde from a bottle, too, but Joe's navel gazing is getting decidedly more ridiculous.

Oregon in "Financial Peril." Why? Spending.

The Pew Center says our state is in a fiscal trouble. The Zero says it's because of Tax Cutters. Hmmm...
Are the tax cutters the problem for overspending on PERS? Look at the numbers if you think the "tax cutters" are to blame for Oregon being 'in peril.'
See that "all funds increase?" Yeah, we're spending that much more over the last biennium. AND even if we don't implement the HUGE tax increases, we're still spending 5% more IN A RECESSION!


Biennium--Total All Funds       All Funds Increase

2009-11----$53,760,031.018----- 9.38%   
2007-09----$48,005,409,654-----13.72%
2005-07----$43,220,555,200 ----11.56%
2003-05----$38,743,009,114 -----9.11%
2001-03----$35,508,990,712 ----16.57%
1999-01----$30,462,319,439 ----11.55%
1997-99----$27,308,692,023 ----17.62%
1995-97----$23,218,655,377 ----15.85%
1993-95----$20,042,060,862 ----12.18%
1991-93----$17,866,757,268-----17.74%
1989-91----$15,174,994,031 ----20.72%
1987-89----$12,570,014,958 -----4.23%
1985-87----$12,060,094,718 ----17.97%
1983-85----$10,223,173,163 --- 14.34%
1981-83-----$8,940,741,798 --(-10.88%)
1979-81----$10,031,862,751 ----35.08%
1977-79-----$7,426,493,362 ----42.91%
1975-77-----$5,196,769,722 --- 56.72%
1973-75-----$3,315,908,507 ----22.15%
1971-73-----$2,714,651,811 ----27.54%
1969-71-----$2,128,527,639 ----13.49%
1967-69-----$1,875,459,599
1965-67-----$1,411,920,395
1963-65-----$1,267,100,097
1961-63-----$1,067,822,805
1959-61-------$946,954,063
1957-59-------$718,552,984

Wu Speaks at City Club this Friday

Hi, Victoria,

David Wu is the slated speaker at City Club this Friday at noon at the Governor Hotel.

Think any Tea Party folks want to greet him with signs on the southeast corner of 11th & Alder? There's a Starbucks on that corner and it's about 50 feet away from the hotel entrance where the doormen stand.

In Flanders Field

H/T Rees Lloyd

Kelo Decision: Still the Worst Decision. Ever. The Reason for it is Moving Out.

The "takings" clause of the 5th Amendment to the US Constitution reads, "Private property shall NOT be taken for a public use without just compensation."
The "public use" became "private" under Kelo in an expansion of the government's ability to use eminent domain. Read below from the WSJ on the comments at the time from the Justices and reflect on how transitory and silly they seem now that Pfizer is moving out of New London, Connecticut. Fortunately for us in Oregon we've passed an anti Kelo measure (which the planning class continues to try to get around).

THEN:

In 1997 Susette Kelo was a 40-year-old nurse going through a divorce when she scraped up enough money to buy her own home, an old cottage on the edge of an industrial neighborhood which overlooked New London, Connecticut's seacoast. Weeks later Pfizer Inc., the world's largest pharmaceutical company, announced plans to build its new global research and development headquarters right next door. To pave the way, the State of Connecticut put up $100 million to improve the area around Pfizer's new facility. Through eminent domain, the City of New London was taking their homes. Desperate to save her house, she rallied her neighbors and waged an eight-year fight against a popular governor, a powerful corporation, and relentless city officials. Her struggle made national headlines and went all the way to the United States Supreme Court, where it brought about the Court's most controversial decision since Roe v. Wade.

NOW:

The Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London stands as one of the worst in recent years, handing local governments carte blanche to seize private property in the name of economic development. Now, four years after that decision gave Susette Kelo's land to private developers for a project including a hotel and offices intended to enhance Pfizer Inc.'s nearby corporate facility, the pharmaceutical giant has announced it will close its research and development headquarters in New London, Connecticut.

 The very reason Supreme Court Justices gave for taking Kelo's property and giving it to another private entity is now gone. From the Wall Street Journal,  "...the five Supreme Court Justices cited the development plan as a major factor in rationalizing their Kelo decision. Justice Anthony Kennedy called the plan "comprehensive," while Justice John Paul Stevens insisted that "The city has carefully formulated a development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including, but not limited to, new jobs and increased tax revenue."
The 5 justices who supported taking Kelo's property, Souter, Kennedy, Stevens, Ginsberg and Breyer.
The justices on the right side of this decision were, O'Connor, Rehnquist, Thomas and Scalia.

The Environmental Movement as a Religion Advances in the UK

H/T Washington Policy Center
In Britain, as in the US, you can't fire somebody because of the religious values they hold. In the UK, a judge's decision has held that a man's environmental beliefs are the same as holding religious values, therefore, to fire the guy based on some cockamamie, money losing, idiotic ideas he had for the company, is to fire him for his religious beliefs.
From The Economist here:

The case on which the judge ruled was that of Tim Nicholson, who used to be “head of sustainability” for a residential-property firm called Grainger.
Mr Nicholson claims, for example, that other executives stymied his attempts to devise a carbon-management system for the firm by failing to give him the necessary data. He also accused Rupert Dickinson, the firm’s chief executive, of “contempt” for his green views. Mr Dickinson, for example, made an employee fly from London to Ireland to bring him a BlackBerry that he had left behind.

On the bright side, when this legal theory manifests itself in the US, perhaps we'll be able to use the fraudulent legal theory that there is a "separation" of church and state. It's worked well keeping Jesus out of the civic life, maybe it would work for the religion of environmentalism. Probably not, though.

FBI: "Threat To Baird Not Serious!"

Available only in the print edition of the November 11, Columbian, but on the front page.

The FBI, although they won't say when they took over the investigation or how they determined it, but they have announced they have closed the investigation saying "the phone call did not pose a serious threat."

Just yesterday the Columbian ran an article saying the investigation was turned over to the FBI.

Will Kathie Durbin apologize to Clark County GOP Chair Ryan Hart for writing an article critical of him releasing a statement expressing offense at the August 19 quip by Baird about a Ryder Truck with his name on it?

I doubt it, she wrote this article and makes no mention of Ryan.

The Columbian has now placed the article online, here

When asked about yesterday's disappearing article, Lou Brancaccio left the comment,

"Here's yesterday's Columbian story. What possible reason would we not want you to see this? It was on our front page Tuesday and on our web all day yesterday."

http://www.columbian.com/article/20091110/NEWS02/711109962/-1/archives

Of course, it is headlined,

FBI to investigate alleged threat against Baird
Wednesday, November 11 | 1:14 p.m.
BY KATHIE DURBIN
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

It originally was,

FBI to investigate alleged threat against Baird
Tuesday, November 10 | 9:46 a.m.
BY KATHIE DURBIN
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Funny thing, today's article shows,

Threat to Baird not serious, FBI says
Tuesday, November 10 | 10:10 p.m.
BY KATHIE DURBIN
COLUMBIAN STAFF WRITER

Those posting times do seems a bit odd.

Special note to Kelly Love: Since I first left my message for you inquiring about the status of the investigation a month ago and I still haven't received a call back, never mind, it's been cleared up apparently. Thanks anyways, though.

We Thank Our Veterans on This Day, November 11, 2009

THE SOLDIER

It is the soldier, not the reporter,

who has given us freedom of the press

It is the soldier, not the poet,

who has given us freedom of speech

It is the soldier, not the campus organizer,

who has given us the freedom to demonstrate.

It is the soldier, not the lawyer,

who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the soldier,

who salutes the flag,

who serves under the flag

and whose coffin is draped by the flag,

who allows the protester to burn the flag

by Father Dennis Edward O'Brien, USMC

I spent time on the PSU campus yesterday. There was a large veterans display with music, speeches etc. And--what did I see? A large line of students standing in line to sign greetings to our soldiers. There were more students doing that at 12 noon than hanging at the food cart or the smoking area. I had to look twice. If I hadn't been rushing through I would have taken a picture.
It seems the students at PSU know a bit more than the professors how to support our troops.
I would also like to thank my fellow bloggers, Lew Waters and Rees Lloyd, for serving our country in the uniform and defending it still to this day in their civilian pursuits.
PS I would prefer our children be in school to learn about these exceptional men and women who have donned the uniform in defense of our nation instead of playing video games. But I've felt that way for Presidents Day, MLKJr Day and the like. Let's learn about our heroes. Let's learn about America's exceptionalism. Let's learn it in class.

He Died at 9:11 Because ...

He was another radicalized Muslim who wanted to pick off the infidels. Here.

Hey, Lew, You Asked and NOW There's an Investigation into the Alleged Threat Against Brian Baird

Here.

Controversial new climate change results

New data show that the balance between the airborne and the absorbed fraction of carbon dioxide has stayed approximately constant since 1850, despite emissions of carbon dioxide having risen from about 2 billion tons a year in 1850 to 35 billion tons a year now.

The results run contrary to a significant body of recent research which expects that the capacity of terrestrial ecosystems and the oceans to absorb CO2 should start to diminish as CO2 emissions increase, letting greenhouse gas levels skyrocket. Dr Wolfgang Knorr at the University of Bristol found that in fact the trend in the airborne fraction since 1850 has only been 0.7 ± 1.4% per decade, which is essentially zero.

Full article here

Happy Birthday, Marines

Semper Fidelis. Always Faithful. Thank you.

No Insurance? Go to Jail.

                                               
“Criminal penalties
Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses.  Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:
• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.
• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]
When confronted with this same issue during its consideration of a similar individual mandate tax, the Senate Finance Committee worked on a bipartisan basis to include language in its bill that shielded Americans from civil and criminal penalties.  The Pelosi bill, however, contains no similar language protecting American citizens from civil and criminal tax penalties that could include a $250,000 fine and five years in jail.
“The Senate Finance Committee had the good sense to eliminate the extreme penalty of incarceration.  Speaker Pelosi’s decision to leave in the jail time provision is a threat to every family who cannot afford the $15,000 premium her plan creates.  Fortunately, Republicans have an alternative that will lower health insurance costs without raising taxes or cutting Medicare,” said Camp.
According to the Congressional Budget Office the lowest cost family non-group plan under the Speaker’s bill would cost $15,000 in 2016.

###

Attorney General to Speak at Terrorist Loving CAIR Event

I'm sorry to report that we're not kidding. From Jihad Watch and Politico.

How About Getting Someone Decent in This Job?

Post Code: D721
Announcement Number: LEHS9750
Classification Number: X0866
Open: 11/06/2009
Close: 11/23/2009
Location: Salem
Availability: Full Time

PUBLIC AFFAIRS SPECIALIST 3
(Department of Human Services Communications Officer)

$4,906 - $6,889 MONTHLY


This employment opportunity is with the Office of the Director/Office of Communications (OC) which is part of the Department of Human Services (DHS). There is one full-time opening located in Salem. This position is management service and is not represented by a union.

This recruitment announcement will be used to establish a list of qualified candidates to fill the current vacancy and may be used to fill future vacancies as they occur.

Please be aware that due to the economic downturn and subsequent state budget short-fall the Governor has ordered mandatory furloughs for employees. This position will be required to take furloughs in the biennium 2009-2011.

QUALIFICATIONS

A Bachelor's Degree in Business or Public Administration, Public Relations, Marketing, the Behavioral or Social Sciences or related degree and five years professional level experience in Public Relations or Affairs.

OR

Eight years experience directly related to Public Relations or Affairs; five of the eight years must have been at the professional level.

SUBMIT THE FOLLOWING

State of Oregon Application Form PD100 AND

A cover letter that clearly addresses each of the following desired competencies listed below. If you do not respond to the desired competencies, you may not be offered an interview. Qualified applicants whose background most closely matches the desired competencies will be invited to interview.

1. Experience working with local, regional and national media as a public information officer, communications director or principal spokesperson.
2. Experience organizing news conferences and events.
3. Experience handling communications related to controversial and/or crisis situations.
4. Experience performing professional-level writing and editing.
5. Experience developing and implementing external and internal communication plans.


AND

A current resume or curriculum vitae

AND

The following work samples:

1. A news release for wide distribution.
2. A communications plan implemented that addresses a specific communications challenge.
3. A sample of writing that explains a complex or technical issue in clear language for a general audience.


NOTE: Writing/work samples will not be returned.

NY Muslim "Street" Declares Terrorist Hit Legitimate, Military Target

Oregon Congressman Earl "Bow Tie" Blumenauer Outs President on Sexual Epithet Used to Describe Tea Party Goers

Mr. Obama, during his private pep talk to Democrats, recognized Mr. Owens’s election and then posed a question to the other lawmakers. According to Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, who supports the health care bill, the president asked, “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit” Democratic voters “and it will encourage the extremists.”

He's Just Like the 9/11 Terrorists: Booby Bar Goer. We're All Sinners, Dude.

So why do these "devout" Mooslim dudes go to booby bars before they kill people? The 9/11 terrorists did, too. You're just as sinful as we are! Don't you get it?! (here) 
We're ALL fallen. Let's BE better. Not HOPE we're better, but BE better.

My Dog Ate My Home Work

Lame GOP member explains HERE why he voted yes on health care. Seriously?

I'm Just Glad that Kid is Going to Live...

See this? Here.

Unsung Heroes That Won The Cold War

Once again we prepare to honor those who have served in all of our wars, paying special homage to those who did not return from our wars. Nearly all of us who served in combat zones over our history view those whose names are etched in stone on the many Veterans Memorials as the true heroes of our conflicts.

Viet Nam is labeled as “America’s Longest War” due to our involvement in that country from 1950 to the fall of Saigon in 1975. That 25 years pales when considering that after World War Two, we began engagement in a much longer war, but a more quiet war, a war where our Troops did not fire weapons at the enemy but stood at the ready nonetheless, training for a battle that never materialized.

The “Cold War” was fought with political conflict, military tension, and economic competition with the increasingly threatening build up of the most brutal weapons known to mankind that never were used.

That war lasted 46 years, 1945 to 1991 and was manned by many millions of heroes who often fought boredom in lonely outposts in the Arctic, walked along a fenced border in Europe or flew many hours circling in pre-staging areas armed with nuclear weapons awaiting the order to return any attack against our nation from the very formidable enemy we fought against, the Soviet Union and the oppressive stranglehold that ideology had on so many European countries as they attempted to spread their influence on peaceful nations.



While the world sat on the brink of nuclear annihilation and moved as close as it ever has during the early 1960’s, it never saw the feared nuclear confrontation between the two superpowers, in spite of our engagements in both the Korean and Viet Nam wars.

On November 9, 1989 the world witnessed the beginning of the end of the Soviet Empire as a wall built to divide the city of Berlin Germany came crumbling down, opened by citizens of the divided city who longed to be free and to freely visit relatives who lived on the free side of the city.

President Ronald Reagan’s famous speech where he uttered the ominous words, “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall” two years earlier, saw their fulfillment. The wall dividing Berlin and the fence dividing the country opened up and freedom returned to that half of the country.

By December 1991, the world watched as the Soviet Union itself collapsed

Much credit was given to President Reagan for winning the Cold War, with some preferring to grant credit to President Jimmy Carter for starting the collapse in the late 1970’s.

Truth be known, all presidents who came along during the time of the Cold War continued policies set in motion by President Harry S. Truman shortly after World War Two. It was he who initiated the Berlin Airlift in 1948 to break the blockade of Berlin initiated by the Soviets to force allied powers out.

While we tend to give accolades to presidents and generals for victories, it is the hard work and extraordinary efforts of the common soldiers and officers who flew those planes, loaded and unloaded them and who directed aircraft safely in and out of Berlin that broke the blockade.

Likewise, as we feared invasions from communist nations close and far away or nuclear annihilation from ICBM attacks, it was the common soldiers who again manned sub-freezing temperatures across the northern hemisphere in lonely radar stations in what was called the DEW Line that kept vigil should a Soviet launch begin.

It was common men and women who sat in offices in front of monitors and screens watching 24 hours a day 7 days a week in undisclosed locations watching for any warning sign of a pending attack.

It was ordinary people who joined a peace-time Air Force and who manned bombers armed with nuclear weapons circling the edges of our nation 24 hours a day 7 days a week, leaving their posts only when a relief flight came up top take over.

It was people from all over the country, all races, all colors, descendants of all nationalities who enlisted out of high school or answered the call of the nation in the draft and who served their two years along the borders of Europe, the DMZ of South Korea, Japan, the Philippine Islands and lonely posts spread across the globe and prepared to fight off any enemy that would be foolish enough to try to conquer our nation from outside.

Some of these same people joined in the silent service of our Naval Forces, above and below the surface of the world’s oceans who, like the Air Force’s Strategic Air Command kept constant vigil far away from their homes to keep America and her inhabitants safe from oppression.

Many protected those of my generation who fought in Viet Nam and those who served elsewhere as we grew into adults and learned from their sense of duty to stand up to the oppression of communism and carry forth their vigilance.

As we approach this 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, it is to those Cold War Warriors who never had to face the enemy head-on, who didn’t have the chance to earn medals of valor, who may have never collected hazardous duty pay, but stood at the ready should they have been called that I dedicate this Veterans Day to this year.

It is to their service and sacrifice that supplied the deterrent we all took for granted that I recognize this year.

Whenever we may feel their contribution to our greatness as a nation was not worth as much as ours, remember the famous photo from 1961 of the East German Soldier leaping across the wire in Berlin to the free west as the city was being divided by the communists.



To all my brothers and sisters who served throughout the Cold War, standing watch on cold and miserable nights around the world, well done. Your steadfastness and readiness is what won the Cold War. Your combat may have been boredom, but you stood watch, keeping America safe, always at the ready.

“A veteran - whether active duty, retired, national guard, or reserve - is someone who, at one point in his or her life, wrote a blank check made payable to The 'United States of America', for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'” (Author unknown)

Thank Your Military

Thank you too all who served.

Hell-Care Passage Open Thread

$700 billion in new taxes on top of all the new taxes they've passed and new debt service.
Medicare cuts of 500 billion just as 30% more people "join" (not that they have a choice) causing huge cuts in service to elders.
Prison terms if you don't buy the government plan.
Yeah, this sounds like a no rationing, 'freedom' increasing plan.

Obama Reveals His Disdain For Americans

From a New York Times article, some insight into Obama's "pep talk" given in private to Democrats in regards to the healthcare debacle bankrupting our country,

According to Representative Earl Blumenauer of Oregon, “Does anybody think that the teabag, anti-government people are going to support them if they bring down health care? All it will do is confuse and dispirit” Democratic voters “and it will encourage the extremists.”

Representative Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, “If you want to see a recipe for failure, don’t do the things you talked about in your campaigns and turn your back on your base. All the independent voters in the world don’t matter if the Democrats don’t turn out.”

Any Independent, conservative or who doesn't blindly follow the progressive agenda are unimportant to this joker who didn't even take the time to console victims in Ft. Hood Texas, as did former President George W. Bush and his wife Laura.

The vote was 219 D's
1 R

New "Republican" from Louisiana, Joseph Gaugh?sp? Votes in favor. He's the 219th vote in favor of our loss of liberty

It passes. Democrats Cheer our lost liberty. And we will remember your names.

Voting Tonight: Democrats Reportedly Have the Votes. We All Are on Welfare Now; Work for Government

Introducing your new paymasters: SEIU.
Here's the latest.

We will soon all be on welfare. Democrats get to 218 on HEll-fare vote. Pray for our nation.

The First Time They Tried This: Rosti & Grandma

H/T Big Government Here.

The Hill: "Moment of Truth" on Health Care Bill. Here's Who to Call! And Pray for Freedom.

Whip count from The Hill here.  
I know some of these people are MadLibs. What have you got to lose by contacting them? Nothing! What do you have to lose if you don't? Freedom. 
Here's a list of Leaners.

UNDECIDED/REVIEWING BILL 
Melissa Bean (Ill.)
Phone: 202-225-3711
Fax: 202-225-7830



Marion Berry (Ark.) 
Wants more aggressive action against HMOs, drug makers
(202) 225-4076
(202) 225-5602 FAX
Rick Boucher (Va.) Wary of public option; voted no in Energy and Commerce Committee
202-225-3861
202-225-0442(fax)

Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)***
DC Phone: 202-225-6131
DC Fax: 202-225-0819

Yvette Clarke (N.Y.)
Phone: (202) 225-6231
Fax: (202) 226-0112 

Joe Donnelly (Ind.)
Phone: (202) 225-3915
Fax: (202) 225-6798 

Chet Edwards (Texas)
A perennial GOP target; rejected climate bill
Phone: 202-225-6105
Fax: 202-225-0350

Keith Ellison (Minn.)
Phone: (202) 225-4755

Bob Etheridge (N.C.) 
May run for Senate
Phone: (202) 225-4531 

Bill Foster (Ill.)
“Encouraged” House is moving forward; voted no on climate bill
Phone: (202) 225-2976
Toll Free: (866) 777-6670
Fax: (202) 225-0697

Bart Gordon (Tenn.) 
Republicans targeting Science panel chairman
Told constituents this week he'd vote against it and now is waffling
Phone: (202) 225-4231
Fax: (202) 225-6887

Raúl Grijalva (Ariz.) 
Wants vote on “robust” public option
 ph (202) 225-2435
fax (202) 225-1541


Baron Hill (Ind.)

202-225-5315
fax 202 226 6866

Dennis Kucinich (Ohio) 
He said he "will have trouble voting for anything other than robust public option."
202-224-3121 capitol switchboard

Daniel Lipinski (Ill.)
Opposes abortion rights
Phone: (202) 225-5701
Fax: (202) 225-1012
Toll free from IL (866) 822-5701

Dan Maffei (N.Y.)

Phone: (202) 225-3701
Fax: (202) 225-4042

Betsy Markey (Colo.) 
Has concerns with cost of the bill
p. 202.225.4676
f 202 225 5870  
Harry Mitchell (Ariz.)
 (202) 225-2190
Patrick Murphy (N.Y.)
 (202) 225-4276

Fax: (202) 225-9511

Glenn Nye (Va.)
Phone: (202) 225-4215
Fax: (202) 225-4218

Jim Oberstar (Minn.)
(202) 225-6211

Solomon Ortiz (Texas) 
Voted no on climate change bill
(202) 225-7742 tel
(202) 226-1134 fax
Ciro Rodriguez (Texas) 
Voted no on climate measure
P: (202) 225-4511
F: (202) 225-2237 

Loretta Sanchez (Calif.) 
Has gone from "yes" to undecided
202) 225-2965 • Fax: (202) 225-5859 
Heath Shuler (N.C.) 
Phone: (202) 225-6401

Fax: (202) 226-6422

Adam Smith (Wash.)
 (202) 225-8901

Zack Space (Ohio) 
Voted yes on Energy and Commerce Committee
ph: (202) 225-6265
fax: (202) 225-3394
Betty Sutton (Ohio)
Phone: (330) 865-8450
Fax: (330) 865-8470
Peter Visclosky (Ind.)
Phone (202) 225-2461
Fax (202) 225-2493 

Hell-Fare Debate Continues on Capitol Hill. Ram-Through Attempt Continues. YOU MUST STOP THEM.

Blue Dog Democrat info below. Betsy McCaughey has read the bill here.  
Read this piece:

What the Pelosi Health-Care Bill Really Says 

Here are some important passages in the 2,000 page legislation.

By BETSY MCCAUGHEY

The health bill that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is bringing to a vote (H.R. 3962) is 1,990 pages. Here are some of the details you need to know.
What the government will require you to do:
• Sec. 202 (p. 91-92) of the bill requires you to enroll in a "qualified plan." If you get your insurance at work, your employer will have a "grace period" to switch you to a "qualified plan," meaning a plan designed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. If you buy your own insurance, there's no grace period. You'll have to enroll in a qualified plan as soon as any term in your contract changes, such as the co-pay, deductible or benefit.
• Sec. 224 (p. 118) provides that 18 months after the bill becomes law, the Secretary of Health and Human Services will decide what a "qualified plan" covers and how much you'll be legally required to pay for it. That's like a banker telling you to sign the loan agreement now, then filling in the interest rate and repayment terms 18 months later.f $7,300 a year, which is 17% of his pre-tax income. A family earning $102,100 a year before taxes will have to pay a $15,000 premium plus an estimated $5,300 out-of-pocket, for a $20,300 total, or 20% of its pre-tax income. Individuals and families earning less than these amounts will be eligible for subsidies paid directly to their insurer.
• Sec. 303 (pp. 167-168) makes it clear that, although the "qualified plan" is not yet designed, it will be of the "one size fits all" variety. The bill claims to offer choice—basic, enhanced and premium levels—but the benefits are the same. Only the co-pays and deductibles differ. You will have to enroll in the same plan, whether the government is paying for it or you and your employer are footing the bill.
• Sec. 59b (pp. 297-299) says that when you file your taxes, you must include proof that you are in a qualified plan. If not, you will be fined thousands of dollars. Illegal immigrants are exempt from this requirement.
• Sec. 412 (p. 272) says that employers must provide a "qualified plan" for their employees and pay 72.5% of the cost, and a smaller share of family coverage, or incur an 8% payroll tax. Small businesses, with payrolls from $500,000 to $750,000, are fined less.
Eviscerating Medicare:
In addition to reducing future Medicare funding by an estimated $500 billion, the bill fundamentally changes how Medicare pays doctors and hospitals, permitting the government to dictate treatment decisions.
• Sec. 1302 (pp. 672-692) moves Medicare from a fee-for-service payment system, in which patients choose which doctors to see and doctors are paid for each service they provide, toward what's called a "medical home."
The medical home is this decade's version of HMO-restrictions on care. A primary-care provider manages access to costly specialists and diagnostic tests for a flat monthly fee. The bill specifies that patients may have to settle for a nurse practitioner rather than a physician as the primary-care provider. Medical homes begin with demonstration projects, but the HHS secretary is authorized to "disseminate this approach rapidly on a national basis."
A December 2008 Congressional Budget Office report noted that "medical homes" were likely to resemble the unpopular gatekeepers of 20 years ago if cost control was a priority.
• Sec. 1114 (pp. 391-393) replaces physicians with physician assistants in overseeing care for hospice patients.
• Secs. 1158-1160 (pp. 499-520) initiates programs to reduce payments for patient care to what it costs in the lowest cost regions of the country. This will reduce payments for care (and by implication the standard of care) for hospital patients in higher cost areas such as New York and Florida.
• Sec. 1161 (pp. 520-545) cuts payments to Medicare Advantage plans (used by 20% of seniors). Advantage plans have warned this will result in reductions in optional benefits such as vision and dental care.
• Sec. 1402 (p. 756) says that the results of comparative effectiveness research conducted by the government will be delivered to doctors electronically to guide their use of "medical items and services."
Questionable Priorities:
While the bill will slash Medicare funding, it will also direct billions of dollars to numerous inner-city social work and diversity programs with vague standards of accountability.
• Sec. 399V (p. 1422) provides for grants to community "entities" with no required qualifications except having "documented community activity and experience with community healthcare workers" to "educate, guide, and provide experiential learning opportunities" aimed at drug abuse, poor nutrition, smoking and obesity. "Each community health worker program receiving funds under the grant will provide services in the cultural context most appropriate for the individual served by the program."
These programs will "enhance the capacity of individuals to utilize health services and health related social services under Federal, State and local programs by assisting individuals in establishing eligibility . . . and in receiving services and other benefits" including transportation and translation services.
• Sec. 222 (p. 617) provides reimbursement for culturally and linguistically appropriate services. This program will train health-care workers to inform Medicare beneficiaries of their "right" to have an interpreter at all times and with no co-pays for language services.
• Secs. 2521 and 2533 (pp. 1379 and 1437) establishes racial and ethnic preferences in awarding grants for training nurses and creating secondary-school health science programs. For example, grants for nursing schools should "give preference to programs that provide for improving the diversity of new nurse graduates to reflect changes in the demographics of the patient population." And secondary-school grants should go to schools "graduating students from disadvantaged backgrounds including racial and ethnic minorities."
• Sec. 305 (p. 189) Provides for automatic Medicaid enrollment of newborns who do not otherwise have insurance.
For the text of the bill with page numbers, see www.defendyourhealthcare.us.
Ms. McCaughey is chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths and a former Lt. Governor of New York state.

Start by calling the Blue Dogs:

Blue Dog Leadership

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration:   Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL)

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy:  Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09)

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications:  Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-02)

  Blue Dog Whip:  Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11)

  Contact the Blue Dogs:

 Kristen Hawn

 Communications Director

 BlueDog@mail.house.gov

Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)***
DC Address: The Honorable Dennis Cardoza
United States House of Representatives
1224 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0518
DC Phone: 202-225-6131
DC Fax: 202-225-0819

Mike Thompson (CA-01)***
DC Address: The Honorable Mike Thompson
United States House of Representatives
231 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0501
DC Phone: 202-225-3311
DC Fax: 202-225-4335

Jim Costa (CA-20)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Costa
United States House of Representatives
1314 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0520
DC Phone: 202-225-3341
DC Fax: 202-225-9308

Adam Schiff (CA-29)***
DC Address: The Honorable Adam Schiff
United States House of Representatives
2447 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0529
DC Phone: 202-225-4176
DC Fax: 202-225-5828

Jane Harman (CA-36)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jane Harman
United States House of Representatives
2400 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0536
DC Phone: 202-225-8220
DC Fax: 202-226-7290

Joe Baca (CA-43)***
DC Address: The Honorable Joe Baca
United States House of Representatives
2245 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0543
DC Phone: 202-225-6161
DC Fax: 202-225-8671

Harry Mitchell (AZ-05)
DC Address: The Honorable Harry Mitchell
United States House of Representatives
1410 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0305
DC Phone: 202-225-2190
DC Fax: 202-225-3263

Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08)***
DC Address: The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords
United States House of Representatives
1728 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0308
DC Phone: 202-225-2542
DC Fax: 202-225-0378

Henry Cueller (TX-28)***
DC Address: The Honorable Henry Cuellar
United States House of Representatives
336 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4328
DC Phone: 202-225-1640
DC Fax: 202-225-1641

Dan Boren (OK-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Dan Boren
United States House of Representatives
216 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3602
DC Phone: 202-225-2701
DC Fax: 202-225-3038

James D. Matheson (UT-02)
DC Address: The Honorable James D. Matheson
United States House of Representatives
2434 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4402
DC Phone: 202-225-3011
DC Fax: 202-225-5638

John Salazar (CO-03)
DC Address: The Honorable John Salazar
United States House of Representatives
326 Cannon House Office Building M
Washington, D.C. 20515-0603
DC Phone: 202-225-4761
DC Fax: 202-226-9669

Dennis Moore (KS-03)***
DC Address: The Honorable Dennis Moore
United States House of Representatives
1727 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1603
DC Phone: 202-225-2865
DC Fax: 202-225-2807

Walter C. Minnick (ID-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Walter C. (Walt) Minnick
United States House of Representatives
1517 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1201
DC Phone: 202-225-6611
DC Fax: 202-225-3029

Earl Pomeroy (ND)
DC Address: The Honorable Earl Pomeroy
United States House of Representatives
1501 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3401
DC Phone: 202-225-2611
DC Fax: 202-226-0893

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
DC Address: The Honorable Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
United States House of Representatives
331 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4101
DC Phone: 202-225-2801
DC Fax: 202-225-5823

Collin Peterson (MN-07)***
DC Address: The Honorable Collin Peterson
United States House of Representatives
2211 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2307
DC Phone: 202-225-2165
DC Fax: 202-225-1593

Leonard Boswell (IA-03)***
DC Address: The Honorable Leonard L. Boswell
United States House of Representatives
1427 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1503
DC Phone: 202-225-3806
DC Fax: 202-225-5608

Marion Berry (AR-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Marion Berry
United States House of Representatives
2305 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0401
DC Phone: 202-225-4076
DC Fax: 202-225-5602

Mike Ross (AR-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Mike Ross
United States House of Representatives
2436 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0404
DC Phone: 202-225-3772
DC Fax: 202-225-1314

Charlie Melancon (LA-03)
DC Address: The Honorable Charlie Melancon
United States House of Representatives
404 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1803
DC Phone: 202-225-4031
DC Fax: 202-226-3944

Travis Childers (MS-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Travis W. Childers
United States House of Representatives
1708 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2401
DC Phone: 202-225-4306
DC Fax: 202-225-3549

Gene Taylor (MS-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Gene Taylor
United States House of Representatives
2269 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2404
DC Phone: 202-225-5772
DC Fax: 202-225-7074

Bobby Bright (AL-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Bobby Bright
United States House of Representatives
1205 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0102
DC Phone: 202-225-2901
DC Fax: 202-225-8913

Parker Griffith (AL-05)
DC Address: The Honorable Parker Griffith
United States House of Representatives
417 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0105
DC Phone: 202-225-4801
DC Fax: 202-225-4392

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02)***
DC Address: The Honorable Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
United States House of Representatives
2429 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1002
DC Phone: 202-225-3631
DC Fax: 202-225-2203

Jim Marshall (GA-08)
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Marshall
United States House of Representatives
504 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1008
DC Phone: 202-225-6531
DC Fax: 202-225-3013

John Barrow (GA-12)
DC Address: The Honorable John Barrow
United States House of Representatives
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1012
DC Phone: 202-225-2823
DC Fax: 202-225-3377

David Scott (GA-13)***
DC Address: The Honorable David Scott
United States House of Representatives
225 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1013
DC Phone: 202-225-2939
DC Fax: 202-225-4628

Allen Boyd (FL-02)***
DC Address: The Honorable Allen Boyd
United States House of Representatives
1227 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0902
DC Phone: 202-225-5235
DC Fax: 202-225-5615

Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
DC Address: The Honorable Mike McIntyre
United States House of Representatives
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3307
DC Phone: 202-225-2731
DC Fax: 202-225-5773

Heath Shuler (NC-11)***
DC Address: The Honorable Heath Shuler
United States House of Representatives
422 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3311
DC Phone: 202-225-6401
DC Fax: 202-226-6422

Lincoln Davis (TN-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Lincoln Davis
United States House of Representatives
410 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4204
DC Phone: 202-225-6831
DC Fax: 202-226-5172

Jim Cooper (TN-05)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Cooper
United States House of Representatives
1536 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4205
DC Phone: 202-225-4311
DC Fax: 202-226-1035

John S. Tanner (TN-08)
DC Address: The Honorable John S. Tanner
United States House of Representatives
1226 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4208
DC Phone: 202-225-4714
DC Fax: 202-225-1765

Ben Chandler (KY-06)***
DC Address: The Honorable Ben Chandler
United States House of Representatives
1504 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1706
DC Phone: 202-225-4706
DC Fax: 202-225-2122

Joe Donnelly (IN-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Joe Donnelly
United States House of Representatives
1530 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1402
DC Phone: 202-225-3915
DC Fax: 202-225-6798

Brad Ellsworth (IN-08)
DC Address: The Honorable Brad Ellsworth
United States House of Representatives
513 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1408
DC Phone: 202-225-4636
DC Fax: 202-225-3284

Baron Hill (IN-09)***
DC Address: The Honorable Baron Hill
United States House of Representatives
223 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1409
DC Phone: 202-225-5315
DC Fax: 202-226-6866

Charles Wilson (OH-06)
DC Address: The Honorable Charles Wilson
United States House of Representatives
226 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3506
DC Phone: 202-225-5705
DC Fax: 202-225-5907

Zack T. Space (OH-18)***
DC Address: The Honorable Zack T. Space
United States House of Representatives
315 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3518
DC Phone: 202-225-6265
DC Fax: 202-225-3394

Glenn Nye, III (VA-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Glenn Nye, III
United States House of Representatives
116 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4602
DC Phone: 202-225-4215
DC Fax: 202-225-4218

Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03)
DC Address: The Honorable Kathy Dahlkemper
DC Phone: 202-225-5406

Jason Altmire (PA-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Jason Altmire
United States House of Representatives
332 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3804
DC Phone: 202-225-2565
DC Fax: 202-226-2274

Patrick Murphy (PA-08)***
DC Address: The Honorable Patrick Murphy
United States House of Representatives
1609 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3808
DC Phone: 202-225-4276
DC Fax: 202-225-9511

Chris Carney (PA-10)
DC Address: The Honorable Christopher Carney
United States House of Representatives
416 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3810
DC Phone: 202-225-3731
DC Fax: 202-225-9594

Tim Holden (PA-17)
DC Address: The Honorable Tim Holden
United States House of Representatives
2417 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3817
DC Phone: 202-225-5546
DC Fax: 202-226-0996

Frank M. Kratovil, Jr. (MD-01)***
DC Address: The Honorable Frank M. Kratovil, Jr.
United States House of Representatives
314 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2001
DC Phone: 202-225-5311
DC Fax: 202-225-0254

Michael Arcuri (NY-24)
DC Address: The Honorable Michael Arcuri
United States House of Representatives
127 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3224
DC Phone: 202-225-3665
DC Fax: 202-225-1891

	Blue Dog Leadership Team Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip Blue Dog Members

Hey, You Could Send Your Kids to Oregon's "Medical Cannabis University"

Here.

All Children (under age 17)

All persons age 17 or under must ask for and receive their parents' or guardian's permission before sending any information about themselves to us or to anyone online or over the Internet. Parents or guardians of persons under age 17 must send us an email indicating their approval of the child's participation in any of the services/resources that require collection of personal information on our web sites.

Oh, and classes are forming now! Imagine getting a ThC in Cannabis Horticulture. Here.

Blue Dogs Start Bailing on Pelosi: She Puts Off Vote Until Sunday at the Earliest

Hey Bluedogs, go home and talk to your constituents. You've got time now. Here's the story about how hard it's getting to get votes for this monstrosity.

We're very close" to having enough votes to prevail, said Majority Leader Steny Hoyer of Maryland, although he added a scheduled Saturday vote could slip by a day or two and sought to pin the blame on possible Republican delaying tactics.
"Nice try, Rep. Hoyer, but you can't blame Republicans when the fact is you just don't have the votes," shot back Antonia Ferrier, spokeswoman for the GOP leader, Rep. John Boehner of Ohio.
In a struggle that combined the fate of President Barack Obama's top domestic priority and a 2010 campaign issue, bipartisanship was not an option.
GOP leaders boasted that all 177 House Republicans stood ready to oppose the $1.2 trillion bill, which would create a new federally supervised insurance marketplace where the uninsured could purchase coverage.

One more thing: Insurance Companies, AARP, Pharmaceutical Companies and the AMA, I have a message for you. You were willing to sell us and our country's individual freedoms and free markets out to this socialistic, economy sucking, job killing, children enslaving plan. All for a few pieces of silver. We will never forget that. Whatever improvements we come up with to the way health insurance is sold now, we're pissed and we won't forget. You'll get a better, more equitable deal with us, but we will never forget how willing you were to sell out our freedoms for your &%!#@#@@ bottom line.

Ft Hood Shooter on Obama's Homeland Security Advisory Board *Jihad Watch Expert on Victoria Taft Show Today*

He shouted Allahu Akbar! as he shot Americans and gave out Korans earlier in the day. Considering the guy was a malcontent and everyone knew it, we wondered how he could have recently made Major. I wonder if being on President Obama's Homeland Security Advisory Board had a little something to do with it. Here. 
Steve Emmerson on the shooter and what our response should be Here.

Politics--Not Priority Lists-- Drive Swine Flu Vaccine Dissemination in Oregon by Rees Lloyd

Rees and his lovely wife, Gail (often confused with a pitbull), have been battling with local health authorities to get their daughter immunized against Swine Flu. You may not like vaccinations, but you really won't like the ways in which politics pervades the decision of who gets the vaccine and who doesn't. 

It appears The Chicago Way has come to Portland immunization clinics. The Chicago Way (Who sent 'ya? Who do you know?) explains why health officials have chosen to send the vaccine to their byzantine collection of clinics for balkanized groups of people instead of to the county's children and other CDC identified priority groups. Perfectly healthy illegal aliens, adult immigrant refugees, Oregon state prisoners, and, nationally, Wall Street bankers and Gitmo detainees are in line BEFORE the groups who have been identified as those most in need. 

Who sent ya? Who do you know? This is just a foretaste of the disaster of ObamaCare. Better get some friends.

Here's a letter Rees and Gail sent to local health officials. Read it and weep.
[To: Dr. Gary L. Oxman, Health Officer, Multnomah-Clackamas-Washington Counties.
Copy: Lillian M. Shirley,  Director, Multnomah County Health Department]Dr. Oxman: Following up on my e-mail to you of Nov. 2009 (attached below), confirming your assurance to me that our daughter (12) would receive a H1N1 vaccination, this is to confirm that you were as good as your word and our daughter did receive a vaccination at the Multnomah County Health Department facility at 426 SW Stark in Portland, on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as you assured me she would. We are gratified that our daughter has received that protection. However, we adamantly object that all other Portland school children are not receiving vaccinations while the government has provided vaccines to healthy adult aliens, legal and illegal, through IRCO and other locations chosen by the Health Department to provide Swine Flu vaccine in violation of the stated priorities.
We are not the kind of people who want to "jump the line" to have our child vaccinated. But nor are we the kind of people who are willing to place our child, and other Portland school children at risk, so that politicians and bureaucrats can dispense health care based upon the government's interests in satisfying constituencies. The "Chicago-style" of receipt of health services based upon "who you know" and "who sent ya?" should not come to Portland.
The fact that IRCO, the "Immigrant and Refugee Community Organization," which advertises its mission as serving aliens exclusively rather than Americans, and whose board of directors includes employees of government agencies who clearly have a conflict of interest as fiduciaries of IRCO and employees of the government, is, simply stated, outrageous in any circumstance but especially in a situation in which more than 800 Oregonians have been hospitalized by Swine Flu and 23 have died -- and while Portland school children go begging for vaccinations, while healthy adult aliens are vaccinated.
There should be a full investigation as to who made these decisions and why, and into what appear to be manifest conflicts of interest. Further, the Oregonian reported that the County is retaining almost one-third (30%) of the vaccines for its own use (which you confirmed), and that incarcerated criminals will be vaccinated, as will be delinquent minors who are incarcerated, while Portland school children are not. Why would anyone decide that the children who have not been delinquent should stand behind adult criminals, delinquent minors, and healthy aliens, legal and illegal, to receive Swine Flu vaccine? Who is making such decisions on rationing vaccines and why, when Portland school children go unprotected and private physicians state they do not have vaccine for even their most at risk patients?
If New York, Maine, Los Angeles, Chicago, and other states and cities can vaccinate their children, then why is Portland  unable to get needed vaccines and diverting its available supply away from the high-risk, priority school children to healthy adult aliens, legal and illegal, and criminals?
Why is Multnomah County now providing vaccinations to "children under five," only, according to its website, when all other states consider children from "6 months to 24" to be at risk--and when Multnomah County once did?
Moreover, the County continues to inform by its website and in return to phone inquiries that all clinic vaccinations have been canceled -- without informing that shots can be obtained at 426 SW Stark in Portland by appointment on Mondays, or at the walk-in clinic on Tuesdays. Thus, the "Chicago-style" is being imported into Portland. Parents like us who carry insurance for their children are told to "consult your pediatrician," when the County knows the amount of doses made availabe to pediatricians is sorely inadequate.
Vaccinations were available at 426 SW Stark in Portland -- but not made known by the County or State on its website or upon telephone inquiry. The question is raised: Many people showed up for shots on Nov. 4 when we did pursuant to your assurance to me that our daughter would receive a vaccination. How did all these other people know to go to that location? I asked the English-speaking persons waiting in line how they knew to come to the walk-in clinic at 426 SW Stark to get a shot for their child. Each one had been told by some "insider" in the government or health delivery system that they should go to 426 SW in order to get a Swine Flu shot. Each said that but for that "insider" information they would not have known to go to that location. That should not be; that is corrupt; that is Chicago-style politics and corruption. It should not be in Portland. A second question raised by this fact is this question: How did all those other persons waiting in line, people who spoke to each other in languages other than English, persons who by dress and demeanor appeared to  be non-Americans--how did they know to come to 426 SW Stark to get vaccinations and Americans did not get that information? This kind of political-correctness is not "correct" but corrupt and corrupting. Did the information come from government employees who, like the government employees on IRCO's Board of Directors have a conflict of interest?  It should be investigated. It should be ended.
Dr. Oxman, I trust you are a good man trying to do a difficult job. But, then, do the right thing: Protect Portland's school children. Do not corrupt rationing by decisions made on political bases upon perceived constituencies, nor upon politically-correct considerations.  Do not infect Portland with Chicago-style government-controlled health  and other services, which are provided on a  "who you know" and "who sent ya" basis.
Please, make rationing decisions strictly on medical considerations, not politically-correct decisions.
Not one single Portland school child should have to undergo the discomfort of the flu, nor die of Swine Flu, because politically-correct decisions were made to please constituencies of politicians, or bureaucrats, including those who have a manifest conflict-of-interest as at IRCO.

8 Intrepid Oregonians Go to Capitol Hill Rally: Part 2. YOU CAN DO YOUR PART BY CONTACTING THE BLUE DOGS!!!

Art Scevola of Oregon 9/12, a physician from southern Oregon, citizens from Pendleton, and a few others, picked up and went to the "House Call" organized by Congresswoman Michelle Bachman on Thursday, 11-5-09. They were there to send yet another BIG message to lawmakers to cease the government take over of health care.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has scheduled a vote for Saturday to force Reps to stay in town and NOT speak to their constituents who are burning up the phone lines begging them NOT to pass the legislation. She wants to pass it before the long Veteran's Day weekend because she may never get another chance after Reps talk to their voters.
White House spokesman, Robert Gibbs, snickered at the rally goers and made a joke about actor, Jon Voight, who gave impassioned speech about American values. I can see why Gibbs thought Voight was a joke. This is because the White House staffers appear to believe that American values like the quaint idea of a "liberty" and "freedom" are a bit of a joke.
Please take a few moments to get in touch with the Blue Dogs and simply send them a message that reads: "NO!"

Blue Dog Leadership

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration:   Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL)

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy:  Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09)

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications:  Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-02)

  Blue Dog Whip:  Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11)

  Contact the Blue Dogs:

 Kristen Hawn

 Communications Director

 BlueDog@mail.house.gov

Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)***
DC Address: The Honorable Dennis Cardoza
United States House of Representatives
1224 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0518
DC Phone: 202-225-6131
DC Fax: 202-225-0819

Mike Thompson (CA-01)***
DC Address: The Honorable Mike Thompson
United States House of Representatives
231 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0501
DC Phone: 202-225-3311
DC Fax: 202-225-4335

Jim Costa (CA-20)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Costa
United States House of Representatives
1314 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0520
DC Phone: 202-225-3341
DC Fax: 202-225-9308

Adam Schiff (CA-29)***
DC Address: The Honorable Adam Schiff
United States House of Representatives
2447 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0529
DC Phone: 202-225-4176
DC Fax: 202-225-5828

Jane Harman (CA-36)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jane Harman
United States House of Representatives
2400 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0536
DC Phone: 202-225-8220
DC Fax: 202-226-7290

Joe Baca (CA-43)***
DC Address: The Honorable Joe Baca
United States House of Representatives
2245 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0543
DC Phone: 202-225-6161
DC Fax: 202-225-8671

Harry Mitchell (AZ-05)
DC Address: The Honorable Harry Mitchell
United States House of Representatives
1410 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0305
DC Phone: 202-225-2190
DC Fax: 202-225-3263

Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08)***
DC Address: The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords
United States House of Representatives
1728 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0308
DC Phone: 202-225-2542
DC Fax: 202-225-0378

Henry Cueller (TX-28)***
DC Address: The Honorable Henry Cuellar
United States House of Representatives
336 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4328
DC Phone: 202-225-1640
DC Fax: 202-225-1641

Dan Boren (OK-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Dan Boren
United States House of Representatives
216 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3602
DC Phone: 202-225-2701
DC Fax: 202-225-3038

James D. Matheson (UT-02)
DC Address: The Honorable James D. Matheson
United States House of Representatives
2434 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4402
DC Phone: 202-225-3011
DC Fax: 202-225-5638

John Salazar (CO-03)
DC Address: The Honorable John Salazar
United States House of Representatives
326 Cannon House Office Building M
Washington, D.C. 20515-0603
DC Phone: 202-225-4761
DC Fax: 202-226-9669

Dennis Moore (KS-03)***
DC Address: The Honorable Dennis Moore
United States House of Representatives
1727 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1603
DC Phone: 202-225-2865
DC Fax: 202-225-2807

Walter C. Minnick (ID-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Walter C. (Walt) Minnick
United States House of Representatives
1517 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1201
DC Phone: 202-225-6611
DC Fax: 202-225-3029

Earl Pomeroy (ND)
DC Address: The Honorable Earl Pomeroy
United States House of Representatives
1501 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3401
DC Phone: 202-225-2611
DC Fax: 202-226-0893

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
DC Address: The Honorable Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
United States House of Representatives
331 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4101
DC Phone: 202-225-2801
DC Fax: 202-225-5823

Collin Peterson (MN-07)***
DC Address: The Honorable Collin Peterson
United States House of Representatives
2211 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2307
DC Phone: 202-225-2165
DC Fax: 202-225-1593

Leonard Boswell (IA-03)***
DC Address: The Honorable Leonard L. Boswell
United States House of Representatives
1427 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1503
DC Phone: 202-225-3806
DC Fax: 202-225-5608

Marion Berry (AR-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Marion Berry
United States House of Representatives
2305 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0401
DC Phone: 202-225-4076
DC Fax: 202-225-5602

Mike Ross (AR-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Mike Ross
United States House of Representatives
2436 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0404
DC Phone: 202-225-3772
DC Fax: 202-225-1314

Charlie Melancon (LA-03)
DC Address: The Honorable Charlie Melancon
United States House of Representatives
404 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1803
DC Phone: 202-225-4031
DC Fax: 202-226-3944

Travis Childers (MS-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Travis W. Childers
United States House of Representatives
1708 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2401
DC Phone: 202-225-4306
DC Fax: 202-225-3549

Gene Taylor (MS-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Gene Taylor
United States House of Representatives
2269 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2404
DC Phone: 202-225-5772
DC Fax: 202-225-7074

Bobby Bright (AL-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Bobby Bright
United States House of Representatives
1205 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0102
DC Phone: 202-225-2901
DC Fax: 202-225-8913

Parker Griffith (AL-05)
DC Address: The Honorable Parker Griffith
United States House of Representatives
417 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0105
DC Phone: 202-225-4801
DC Fax: 202-225-4392

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02)***
DC Address: The Honorable Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
United States House of Representatives
2429 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1002
DC Phone: 202-225-3631
DC Fax: 202-225-2203

Jim Marshall (GA-08)
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Marshall
United States House of Representatives
504 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1008
DC Phone: 202-225-6531
DC Fax: 202-225-3013

John Barrow (GA-12)
DC Address: The Honorable John Barrow
United States House of Representatives
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1012
DC Phone: 202-225-2823
DC Fax: 202-225-3377

David Scott (GA-13)***
DC Address: The Honorable David Scott
United States House of Representatives
225 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1013
DC Phone: 202-225-2939
DC Fax: 202-225-4628

Allen Boyd (FL-02)***
DC Address: The Honorable Allen Boyd
United States House of Representatives
1227 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0902
DC Phone: 202-225-5235
DC Fax: 202-225-5615

Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
DC Address: The Honorable Mike McIntyre
United States House of Representatives
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3307
DC Phone: 202-225-2731
DC Fax: 202-225-5773

Heath Shuler (NC-11)***
DC Address: The Honorable Heath Shuler
United States House of Representatives
422 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3311
DC Phone: 202-225-6401
DC Fax: 202-226-6422

Lincoln Davis (TN-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Lincoln Davis
United States House of Representatives
410 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4204
DC Phone: 202-225-6831
DC Fax: 202-226-5172

Jim Cooper (TN-05)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Cooper
United States House of Representatives
1536 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4205
DC Phone: 202-225-4311
DC Fax: 202-226-1035

John S. Tanner (TN-08)
DC Address: The Honorable John S. Tanner
United States House of Representatives
1226 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4208
DC Phone: 202-225-4714
DC Fax: 202-225-1765

Ben Chandler (KY-06)***
DC Address: The Honorable Ben Chandler
United States House of Representatives
1504 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1706
DC Phone: 202-225-4706
DC Fax: 202-225-2122

Joe Donnelly (IN-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Joe Donnelly
United States House of Representatives
1530 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1402
DC Phone: 202-225-3915
DC Fax: 202-225-6798

Brad Ellsworth (IN-08)
DC Address: The Honorable Brad Ellsworth
United States House of Representatives
513 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1408
DC Phone: 202-225-4636
DC Fax: 202-225-3284

Baron Hill (IN-09)***
DC Address: The Honorable Baron Hill
United States House of Representatives
223 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1409
DC Phone: 202-225-5315
DC Fax: 202-226-6866

Charles Wilson (OH-06)
DC Address: The Honorable Charles Wilson
United States House of Representatives
226 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3506
DC Phone: 202-225-5705
DC Fax: 202-225-5907

Zack T. Space (OH-18)***
DC Address: The Honorable Zack T. Space
United States House of Representatives
315 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3518
DC Phone: 202-225-6265
DC Fax: 202-225-3394

Glenn Nye, III (VA-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Glenn Nye, III
United States House of Representatives
116 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4602
DC Phone: 202-225-4215
DC Fax: 202-225-4218

Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03)
DC Address: The Honorable Kathy Dahlkemper
DC Phone: 202-225-5406

Jason Altmire (PA-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Jason Altmire
United States House of Representatives
332 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3804
DC Phone: 202-225-2565
DC Fax: 202-226-2274

Patrick Murphy (PA-08)***
DC Address: The Honorable Patrick Murphy
United States House of Representatives
1609 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3808
DC Phone: 202-225-4276
DC Fax: 202-225-9511

Chris Carney (PA-10)
DC Address: The Honorable Christopher Carney
United States House of Representatives
416 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3810
DC Phone: 202-225-3731
DC Fax: 202-225-9594

Tim Holden (PA-17)
DC Address: The Honorable Tim Holden
United States House of Representatives
2417 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3817
DC Phone: 202-225-5546
DC Fax: 202-226-0996

Frank M. Kratovil, Jr. (MD-01)***
DC Address: The Honorable Frank M. Kratovil, Jr.
United States House of Representatives
314 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2001
DC Phone: 202-225-5311
DC Fax: 202-225-0254

Michael Arcuri (NY-24)
DC Address: The Honorable Michael Arcuri
United States House of Representatives
127 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3224
DC Phone: 202-225-3665
DC Fax: 202-225-1891

	Blue Dog Leadership Team Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip Blue Dog Members

National Unemployment Rate: 10.2%-- The Highest in a Quarter Century

The Obama Porkulus plan has served to support the cronies of the democrats---just like the cadres in the old USSR and PRC---but has YOUR job been "saved" or "created?" For the 10.2% of you unemployed nationally, higher if you live in the job killing state of Oregon, that's not just a "no" that's a "no way!"
Oh, and by the way, the "experts" were surprised the unemployment rate was so high. Apparently they didn't see it coming. Makes you wonder about their promises for health care expenditures, doesn't it? 
Story here.

Pelosi Scheduled Health Care Vote on a Saturday So Reps Wouldn't Go Back Home and Listen to YOU

Here.

Victoria Taft Has a Favor to Ask You

Thank you for reading this. Would you please disseminate this information to people you know, talk show hosts, people of influence and opinion makers:
Please ask everyone to send an email or fax to every member of Congress they can (starting with Blue Dogs BlueDog@mail.house.gov) simply reading:
NO!
 I'd like to crush a few fax machines and email accounts, but most of all, I want them to reconsider passing this monstrosity of a health care plan.

Blue Dog Leadership

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration:   Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD-AL)

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy:  Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09)

  Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications:  Rep. Jim Matheson (UT-02)

  Blue Dog Whip:  Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11)

  Contact the Blue Dogs:

 Kristen Hawn

 Communications Director

 BlueDog@mail.house.gov

Dennis Cardoza (CA-18)***
DC Address: The Honorable Dennis Cardoza
United States House of Representatives
1224 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0518
DC Phone: 202-225-6131
DC Fax: 202-225-0819

Mike Thompson (CA-01)***
DC Address: The Honorable Mike Thompson
United States House of Representatives
231 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0501
DC Phone: 202-225-3311
DC Fax: 202-225-4335

Jim Costa (CA-20)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Costa
United States House of Representatives
1314 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0520
DC Phone: 202-225-3341
DC Fax: 202-225-9308

Adam Schiff (CA-29)***
DC Address: The Honorable Adam Schiff
United States House of Representatives
2447 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0529
DC Phone: 202-225-4176
DC Fax: 202-225-5828

Jane Harman (CA-36)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jane Harman
United States House of Representatives
2400 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0536
DC Phone: 202-225-8220
DC Fax: 202-226-7290

Joe Baca (CA-43)***
DC Address: The Honorable Joe Baca
United States House of Representatives
2245 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0543
DC Phone: 202-225-6161
DC Fax: 202-225-8671

Harry Mitchell (AZ-05)
DC Address: The Honorable Harry Mitchell
United States House of Representatives
1410 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0305
DC Phone: 202-225-2190
DC Fax: 202-225-3263

Gabrielle Giffords (AZ-08)***
DC Address: The Honorable Gabrielle Giffords
United States House of Representatives
1728 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0308
DC Phone: 202-225-2542
DC Fax: 202-225-0378

Henry Cueller (TX-28)***
DC Address: The Honorable Henry Cuellar
United States House of Representatives
336 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4328
DC Phone: 202-225-1640
DC Fax: 202-225-1641

Dan Boren (OK-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Dan Boren
United States House of Representatives
216 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3602
DC Phone: 202-225-2701
DC Fax: 202-225-3038

James D. Matheson (UT-02)
DC Address: The Honorable James D. Matheson
United States House of Representatives
2434 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4402
DC Phone: 202-225-3011
DC Fax: 202-225-5638

John Salazar (CO-03)
DC Address: The Honorable John Salazar
United States House of Representatives
326 Cannon House Office Building M
Washington, D.C. 20515-0603
DC Phone: 202-225-4761
DC Fax: 202-226-9669

Dennis Moore (KS-03)***
DC Address: The Honorable Dennis Moore
United States House of Representatives
1727 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1603
DC Phone: 202-225-2865
DC Fax: 202-225-2807

Walter C. Minnick (ID-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Walter C. (Walt) Minnick
United States House of Representatives
1517 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1201
DC Phone: 202-225-6611
DC Fax: 202-225-3029

Earl Pomeroy (ND)
DC Address: The Honorable Earl Pomeroy
United States House of Representatives
1501 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3401
DC Phone: 202-225-2611
DC Fax: 202-226-0893

Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD)
DC Address: The Honorable Stephanie Herseth Sandlin
United States House of Representatives
331 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4101
DC Phone: 202-225-2801
DC Fax: 202-225-5823

Collin Peterson (MN-07)***
DC Address: The Honorable Collin Peterson
United States House of Representatives
2211 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2307
DC Phone: 202-225-2165
DC Fax: 202-225-1593

Leonard Boswell (IA-03)***
DC Address: The Honorable Leonard L. Boswell
United States House of Representatives
1427 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1503
DC Phone: 202-225-3806
DC Fax: 202-225-5608

Marion Berry (AR-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Marion Berry
United States House of Representatives
2305 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0401
DC Phone: 202-225-4076
DC Fax: 202-225-5602

Mike Ross (AR-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Mike Ross
United States House of Representatives
2436 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0404
DC Phone: 202-225-3772
DC Fax: 202-225-1314

Charlie Melancon (LA-03)
DC Address: The Honorable Charlie Melancon
United States House of Representatives
404 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1803
DC Phone: 202-225-4031
DC Fax: 202-226-3944

Travis Childers (MS-01)
DC Address: The Honorable Travis W. Childers
United States House of Representatives
1708 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2401
DC Phone: 202-225-4306
DC Fax: 202-225-3549

Gene Taylor (MS-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Gene Taylor
United States House of Representatives
2269 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2404
DC Phone: 202-225-5772
DC Fax: 202-225-7074

Bobby Bright (AL-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Bobby Bright
United States House of Representatives
1205 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0102
DC Phone: 202-225-2901
DC Fax: 202-225-8913

Parker Griffith (AL-05)
DC Address: The Honorable Parker Griffith
United States House of Representatives
417 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0105
DC Phone: 202-225-4801
DC Fax: 202-225-4392

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. (GA-02)***
DC Address: The Honorable Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.
United States House of Representatives
2429 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1002
DC Phone: 202-225-3631
DC Fax: 202-225-2203

Jim Marshall (GA-08)
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Marshall
United States House of Representatives
504 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1008
DC Phone: 202-225-6531
DC Fax: 202-225-3013

John Barrow (GA-12)
DC Address: The Honorable John Barrow
United States House of Representatives
213 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1012
DC Phone: 202-225-2823
DC Fax: 202-225-3377

David Scott (GA-13)***
DC Address: The Honorable David Scott
United States House of Representatives
225 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1013
DC Phone: 202-225-2939
DC Fax: 202-225-4628

Allen Boyd (FL-02)***
DC Address: The Honorable Allen Boyd
United States House of Representatives
1227 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-0902
DC Phone: 202-225-5235
DC Fax: 202-225-5615

Mike McIntyre (NC-07)
DC Address: The Honorable Mike McIntyre
United States House of Representatives
2437 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3307
DC Phone: 202-225-2731
DC Fax: 202-225-5773

Heath Shuler (NC-11)***
DC Address: The Honorable Heath Shuler
United States House of Representatives
422 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3311
DC Phone: 202-225-6401
DC Fax: 202-226-6422

Lincoln Davis (TN-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Lincoln Davis
United States House of Representatives
410 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4204
DC Phone: 202-225-6831
DC Fax: 202-226-5172

Jim Cooper (TN-05)***
DC Address: The Honorable Jim Cooper
United States House of Representatives
1536 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4205
DC Phone: 202-225-4311
DC Fax: 202-226-1035

John S. Tanner (TN-08)
DC Address: The Honorable John S. Tanner
United States House of Representatives
1226 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4208
DC Phone: 202-225-4714
DC Fax: 202-225-1765

Ben Chandler (KY-06)***
DC Address: The Honorable Ben Chandler
United States House of Representatives
1504 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1706
DC Phone: 202-225-4706
DC Fax: 202-225-2122

Joe Donnelly (IN-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Joe Donnelly
United States House of Representatives
1530 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1402
DC Phone: 202-225-3915
DC Fax: 202-225-6798

Brad Ellsworth (IN-08)
DC Address: The Honorable Brad Ellsworth
United States House of Representatives
513 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1408
DC Phone: 202-225-4636
DC Fax: 202-225-3284

Baron Hill (IN-09)***
DC Address: The Honorable Baron Hill
United States House of Representatives
223 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-1409
DC Phone: 202-225-5315
DC Fax: 202-226-6866

Charles Wilson (OH-06)
DC Address: The Honorable Charles Wilson
United States House of Representatives
226 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3506
DC Phone: 202-225-5705
DC Fax: 202-225-5907

Zack T. Space (OH-18)***
DC Address: The Honorable Zack T. Space
United States House of Representatives
315 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3518
DC Phone: 202-225-6265
DC Fax: 202-225-3394

Glenn Nye, III (VA-02)
DC Address: The Honorable Glenn Nye, III
United States House of Representatives
116 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-4602
DC Phone: 202-225-4215
DC Fax: 202-225-4218

Kathy Dahlkemper (PA-03)
DC Address: The Honorable Kathy Dahlkemper
DC Phone: 202-225-5406

Jason Altmire (PA-04)
DC Address: The Honorable Jason Altmire
United States House of Representatives
332 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3804
DC Phone: 202-225-2565
DC Fax: 202-226-2274

Patrick Murphy (PA-08)***
DC Address: The Honorable Patrick Murphy
United States House of Representatives
1609 Longworth House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3808
DC Phone: 202-225-4276
DC Fax: 202-225-9511

Chris Carney (PA-10)
DC Address: The Honorable Christopher Carney
United States House of Representatives
416 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3810
DC Phone: 202-225-3731
DC Fax: 202-225-9594

Tim Holden (PA-17)
DC Address: The Honorable Tim Holden
United States House of Representatives
2417 Rayburn House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3817
DC Phone: 202-225-5546
DC Fax: 202-226-0996

Frank M. Kratovil, Jr. (MD-01)***
DC Address: The Honorable Frank M. Kratovil, Jr.
United States House of Representatives
314 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-2001
DC Phone: 202-225-5311
DC Fax: 202-225-0254

Michael Arcuri (NY-24)
DC Address: The Honorable Michael Arcuri
United States House of Representatives
127 Cannon House Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20515-3224
DC Phone: 202-225-3665
DC Fax: 202-225-1891

Blue Dog Leadership Team Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin (SD), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Administration Rep. Baron Hill (IN-09), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Policy Rep. Charlie Melancon (LA-03), Blue Dog Co-Chair for Communications Rep. Heath Shuler (NC-11), Blue Dog Whip Blue Dog Members Altmire, Jason (PA-04) Arcuri, Mike (NY-24) Baca, Joe (CA-43) Barrow, John (GA-12) Berry, Marion (AR-01) Bishop, Sanford (GA-02) Boren, Dan (OK-02) Boswell, Leonard (IA-03) Boyd, Allen (FL-02) Bright, Bobby (AL-02) Cardoza, Dennis (CA-18) Carney, Christopher (PA-10) Chandler, Ben (KY-06) Childers, Travis (MS-01) Cooper, Jim (TN-05) Costa, Jim (CA-20) Cuellar, Henry (TX-28) Dahlkemper, Kathy (PA-03) Davis, Lincoln (TN-04) Donnelly, Joe (IN-02) Ellsworth, Brad (IN-08) Giffords, Gabrielle (AZ-08) Gordon, Bart (TN-06) Griffith, Parker (AL-05) Harman, Jane (CA-36) Herseth Sandlin, Stephanie (SD) Hill, Baron (IN-09) Holden, Tim (PA-17) Kratovil, Jr., Frank (MD-01) McIntyre, Mike (NC-07) Marshall, Jim (GA-08) Matheson, Jim (UT-02) Melancon, Charlie (LA-03) Michaud, Mike (ME-02) Minnick, Walt (ID-01) Mitchell, Harry (AZ-05) Moore, Dennis (KS-03) Murphy, Patrick (PA-08) Nye, Glenn (VA-02) Peterson, Collin (MN-07) Pomeroy, Earl (ND) Ross, Mike (AR-04) Salazar, John (CO-03) Sanchez, Loretta (CA-47) Schiff, Adam (CA-29) Scott, David (GA-13) Shuler, Heath (NC-11) Space, Zack (OH-18) Tanner, John (TN-08) Taylor, Gene (MS-04) Thompson, Mike (CA-01) Wilson, Charles (OH-06)

Obama Sort Of Expresses Regret On Ft Hood Shooting

But first, he must give shout outs and addresses White House conference attendees. Only then does he get around to mentioning the “horrific shooting” at Ft. Hood, Texas.



NBC Chicago gets it. Obama's Frightening Insensitivity Following Shooting