Gov. Deval Patrick - Obama's BFF and "Mini Me" - A pair of Failed POLS

Benghazi will be remembered as when good men died due to an ineffective and failed President who lied his way into the highest office in the land.  People who voted for him who were more interested in electing the "cool" factor than a good leader.  Ugh.

What could be possibly worse than more of Obama, a feckless politician who has been proven to be a liar, fraud and failed charlatan??

How about his BEST FRIEND FOREVER ( BFF ) Governor Deval Patrick - another failed lefty looney liberal moonbat who has proven to be, as my Dad would say, as
" shallow as piss on a flat rock ".  He has made Massachusetts a laughing stock as we are recognized as having one of the more corrupt state governments in the land.  An Afghan writer said that MASSACHUSETTS politics was more corrupt than KABUL and he made some pretty good points.

Giving licenses to illegal immigrants ?  More EBT cards with cash benefits that can be spent at casinos, cruise ships and tattoo parlors?  More patronage jobs and lifetime EVERYTHING for lazy state workers who don't even know what the meaning of real work is???  A public transit system ( MBTA ) that is a sinkhole for $$$ ???? 

IF you like all these things, than DEVAL is your man -

A empty suit cut from the same unethical and morally bankrupt cloth as his buddy Obama.

What a pair of clowns and worse yet are those who voted for these two putzes.

Howie Carr gives us a write up that needs to be remembered as Deval wants to follow his best buddy's path to national politics - Heavens protect us, please.

We need more of these two failed fools like we all need kick in the b*lls.

Gusts of hot air forecast for gov

By Howie Carr
Sunday, October 28, 2012 -  Boston Herald

Boston Herald Columnist

Thanks to Sandy, we’ll be seeing a lot of Gov. Deval Patrick over the next few days, live from the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker in Framingham, all 67 inches of him.

He’ll be wearing that boss leather jacket, talking tough to the utilities like he did the other day. Some reporter asked him if the utilities will be ready for Frankenstorm, and he replied in that squeaky little voice of his, “They’d better be.”

Ooooooh, I’ll bet they were petrified. If they don’t keep the lights on next week, the utilities can count on a scorching ... invitation to his next fundraiser.

 

Deval’s governorship is winding down, like T.S. Eliot’s world, not with a bang but a whimper. Deval’s favorite Roman emperor? Nero, because he, too, fiddled while Rome burned.

Beyond this pending temporary return to the limelight, Deval has become Dukakis Redux. His governorship consists of little more than rounding up the usual suspects. Almost daily he is shocked to learn that there is gambling going on in the casino.

His cops raid the compounding pharmacy in Framingham ... after 23 people are dead. He sets up a “war room” to deal with the Annie Dookhan scandal at the forensic laboratory — surrender room would be more like it, as they cut loose drug dealer after drug dealer. And Deval claims it’s only going to cost the state $50 million?

What happens when the freed drug dealers start shooting civilians, or providing them with hot shots? How about all those second-generation lawsuits? Then there’s his new MBTA boss, who fled Atlanta leaving Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority in shambles, with out-of-control absenteeism and pension costs and an unsustainable economic model. Sound familiar?

“She is exactly what we need,” Deval said with a straight face.

Deval has long served as Mini-Me to Obama’s Dr. Evil. So how come he’s not a campaign surrogate anymore? During the last presidential debate in Boca, Deval spent the evening in Ashland, trying to save a moonbat rep who votes with the speaker 99.4 percent of the time. (His one vote against the speaker was to oppose any EBT reform — no wonder Deval loves the guy.)

Now Sandy’s rolling north, just in time for the first anniversary of the freak Halloween storm. We all remember what happened back then — Lt. Gov. Tim Murray achieved liftoff at 108 mph in his state-issued Crown Vic. And Deval is still stonewalling on release of embattled Murray’s cellphone records.

And next year, will Murray be a witness at any possible trials of his dear friend, Mike McLaughlin, the $360,000-a-year Chelsea Housing Authority director?

Deval can forget the U.S. Supreme Court. That sketchy background of his will kill him. Remember Ameriquest? He can likewise forget about anything that requires Senate confirmation. As Bill Weld found out, it only takes one senator to deep-six your nomination.

And anyway, does Deval want any of that stuff? Ambassadorships are for the likes of Ray Flynn and Brian Donnelly. Secretary of, say, transportation? That’s for the Andy Cards of the world.

Pre-governorship, Deval had a pretty good racket going. He learned it from his mentor, Jesse Jackson. King had a dream, Jesse had a scheme. Jesse called his Operation Push. Deval’s was Operation Grab.

Deval would go to some corporation that needed some racial cover — “steam control,” as Tom Wolfe put it. After a few months, Deval would get all huffy and then walk away with a few million and a non-disclosure agreement. Wash, rinse, repeat. It worked with Coke, it worked with Texaco, but by 2005 Deval had worn out the grift.

What’s next? One thing we know it won’t be — another $1.35 million advance for a “book” that sells 6,000 copies.

Spending " The little people's money "....easy for the Justice Department

Once again, we have those inside government acting as if there is an endless supply of $$$. To them, there is....it is your hard earned money and it is easy for them to spend as after all, it is "The little people's money" and that makes it sweeter for them.

The Justice Department personnel who are responsible for this should face the "justice" of being fired.


What Recession? Justice Department Spent Nearly Half a Million on Refreshments
Published September 20, 2011
FoxNews.com

If the 2008 financial crisis caused the nation to tighten its belt, the Justice Department didn’t get the memo.

The federal agency spent about $490,000 on food and beverages at 10 conferences, including $16 apiece for muffins, more than a dollar an ounce for coffee and $32 per person on snacks, according to a new report from the Justice Department’s inspector general.

The half-a-million-dollar tab represented more than 10 percent of the $4.4 million total cost of the events that were held between October 2007 and September 2009.

“Some conferences featured costly meals, refreshments, and themed breaks that we believe were indicative of wasteful or extravagant spending – especially when service charges, taxes, and indirect costs are factored into the actual price paid for food and beverages,” the report reads, citing a $76-per-person lunch at one workshop.

The inspector general made 10 recommendations to improve oversight and minimize conference costs, all of which were accepted by the Justice Department.

Republicans shook their head in disbelief.

"$16 muffins and $600,000 for event planning services are what make Americans cynical about government and why they are demanding change," said Sen. Chuck Grassley, the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The Justice Department appears to be blind to the economic realities our country is facing," he said. "People are outraged, and rightly so. The Inspector General's office just gave a blueprint for the first cuts that should be made by the (deficit-cutting) supercommittee."

The Justice Department implemented a new conference policy in April 2008 after a previous audit found wasteful spending at events held between October 2004 and September 2006. Among the examples were $53-per-person lunches and a $60,000 reception that served Swedish meatballs at $5 a piece.

In the September 2007 report, the inspector general said the agency had “few internal controls to limit the expense of conference planning and food and beverage costs at DOJ conferences.”

The latest report aimed to determine whether the new policy was working.

“Our assessment of food and beverage charges revealed that some DOJ components did not minimize conference costs as required by federal and DOJ guidelines,” the report reads.

In 2008 and 2009, the department hosted or participated in 1,832 conferences costing $121 million.

At a Washington, D.C., legal conference, the department spent $4,200 on 250 muffins -- or more than $16 apiece, the report said.

At another conference, the department's Office on Violence Against Women spent $65 per person at a lunch for 65 people. Coffee cost more than $1 an ounce. A snack break at the same conference cost $32 per person for Cracker Jack, popcorn and candy bars

SUX to be you Al Qaeda - Massive Drone Strike Hits Qaida Cop Station in Yemen

On certain days, you get up in the morning and you are trying to figure out what's going on....You're not sure as the day is still early on and there is a little too much fog left in the grey matter from the night before.

THEN, you find a bit of information that catches your attention and interjects a bit of " Well Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah ! " as some stupid idjits are finding out that there are less & less places to hide from the long arm of JUSTICE.....AWESOME USE OF THE TECHNOLOGY DUDE !

Pour it on....no let up.....keep it coming. These feckless fools think they can hide out in the Shite-wilds and send destruction to the rest of the world are swiftly finding out that we will find them and hunt them down like the shallow b@stards they are.

It makes me recall how the USA did it back in the day, and my sentiment is perfectly in line with this President's words uttered in Congress on Dec. 8th, 1941:

" No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated (attack), the American people in their righteous might will win through to absolute victory.

I believe that I interpret the will of the Congress and of the people when I assert that we will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost, but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us.

Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger.

With confidence in our armed forces, with the unbounding determination of our people, we will gain the inevitable triumph -- so help us God."

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Pearl Harbor Address to the Nation
December 8th, 1941


Massive Drone Strike Hits Qaida Cop Station in Yemen
By Spencer Ackerman Wired.com / Danger Room

At some point, al-Qaida is going to have to figure out that gathering in conspicuous places just means giving a big, fat, blinking red target to the killer drones hovering above.

In the latest sign of the intensifying U.S. shadow war in Yemen, drones hit a police station in Abyan Province, where fighters from al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula have flocked during the country’s ongoing political crisis. al-Qaida reportedly took over the station, prompting the drone(s) to take action.

Early reports are conflicting, but the strike might have a massive death toll attached. The New York Times says eight militants are dead, but CNN claims that the body count is at 50. Either way, there’s a lesson here: al-Qaida gatherings are drone bait.

According to stats compiled by the Long War Journal, it’s the third U.S. airstrike in Yemen this year, which really means since May. The next strike will tie the total from all of 2010.

Al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula can’t say it wasn’t warned. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, the former CIA director, tells anyone who’ll listen how drone strikes, commando raids and other inconspicuous, lethal applications of force are his preferred solution to the al-Qaida problem. Same goes for incoming Special Operations Command chief Vice. Adm. William McRaven. New CIA Director David Petraeus is cool taking militants dead or alive.

Not to suggest there’s a bright side to al-Qaida’s strength in Abyan, but if the militants feel they can run the province with impunity, their operational security standards are likely to drop. The newer model Reaper drones at the U.S.’ disposal increasingly carry smaller, lighter weapons — 35 pound missiles, down from a 100-pound Hellfire — and more of them. That means more opportunities to hit more al-Qaida targets, especially if the terrorist group is going to set up conspicuous de facto bases. Maybe it’s time to rethink the concept of “safe haven.”

Obama team moves fund-raiser after BOSTON GLOBE shines light on a MAJOR conflict of interest

TYPICAL Horse-shite from the White House and the feckless politicians who are his support....They schedule a fundraiser at the Pfizer world headquarters - The fact that Pfizer operates in an industry regulated by the FEDS is a MAJOR CONFLICT OF INTEREST and then to see the White House change the location once the issue comes to light.....

On top of the fact that Pfizer pleaded guilty to the illegal marketing of four of its drugs in which became the largest case of health care fraud in US history. It also received the largest criminal penalty - $1.2 billion - ever levied.

Like cockroaches, the minute you shine light on them, they scurry off to hide.

If this kind of CRAP doesn't make you wonder why ANYONE with a lick of sense would vote for these shallow blowhards, I question your common sense.

There's a phrase that has never been used in conjunction with the feckless "empty suit" sitting in the White House - "Common Sense" is not a word that exists in the President's vocabulary.

Obama team moves fund-raiser after Globe query
July 14, 2011 4:42 PM

By Glen Johnson, Globe Staff

President Obama’s campaign committee is moving a fund-raiser featuring Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel from the Pfizer world headquarters to another location in New York City after The Boston Globe inquired about the propriety of a major pharmaceutical company hosting an event that could benefit the administration regulating it.

“This is a general fund-raising event for the campaign that has nothing to do with a specific company and the attendees will not be from any one company or sector,” Obama spokesman Ben LaBolt said this afternoon in a statement.

A Pfizer spokesman did not address the change in locale but defended the company’s initial decision to host the fund-raiser.

“Pfizer is proud to participate in the political process and encourages its colleagues to do so as well,” said the spokesman, Raul Damas. “All activities are undertaken in strict compliance with campaign finance law.”

Political fund-raisers are often held in private homes or commercial hotel and convention space to accommodate crowds and avoid conflict-of-interest charges. While they are sometimes held in corporate settings, management will often insist that they be linked to individual employees rather than the broader firm itself.

Emanuel, who formerly served as White House chief of staff, is slated to attend a series of fund-raising events for Obama next Thursday in New York. In one of them, he will serve as keynote speaker for the launch of a “Tri-State Speaker Series” aimed at raising money in the cash-rich region of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.

Attendees are being asked to donate $1,000 for lunch with Emanuel or $5,000 to attend each of what will be monthly events during the next year, according to an invitation obtained by the Globe.

The money will go to the Obama Victory Fund 2012, which splits its proceeds between the president’s campaign committee, Obama for America, and the Democratic National Committee, which the president controls but is charged with electing other Democratic candidates across the country.

On Wednesday, Obama for America announced it had raised $47 million during the past three months, more than double the $18.2 million raised by the president’s nearest Republican re-election challenger, Mitt Romney.

The DNC also reported raising $38 million, and the invitation showed the two entities’ expanded push for even more money.

It said the Emanuel event was being held at “The Offices of Pfizer.” It included an address, 235 East 42nd St. in New York, that is for the company’s headquarters.

Pfizer bills itself as “the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical company.”

It ranks first in world pharmaceutical sales and produces such prominent products as Lipitor, Viagra, and Celebrex.

Its activities are regulated by, among others, federal agencies such as the Food and Drug Administration.

In September 2009, Pfizer pleaded guilty to the illegal marketing of four of its drugs in which became the largest case of health care fraud in US history. It also received the largest criminal penalty - $1.2 billion - ever levied.

The settlement was the fourth by the company with the US Department of Justice during the prior decade.

The fund-raiser is now being held at the University Club in New York.

Glen Johnson can be reached at johnson@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @glo

Whacky - Pakis slams ‘unauthorized’ US raid on bin Laden.....REALLY ?? REALLY PAKISTAN???

“From some quarters, there is anger at the United States conducting a mission inside Pakistan.”

REALLY ? Really Pakistan ?? You are lucky we just don’t decide to send MORE missions into your country......like what would you do to stop us ?? Have some more angry demonstrations in Islamabad ? It would be like shooting fish in a barrel.

Let's load up the drones and turn the Whacki-Pakis on to the REAL potential for what can happen when you piss us off. The bases in Afghanistan are starting to show their full potential to take on these idiots in Pakistan who were likely assisting in hiding OBL.

Get over yourself before we re-think the $4 Billion in aid we provide you and any other form of assistance.

BRAVO ZULU to the US NAVY SEALS - Beers on me next time I see any of my Navy Seal Brothers.


Pakistan slams ‘unauthorized’ US raid on bin Laden

By Associated Press Tuesday, May 3, 2011
http://www.bostonherald.com Asia Pacific

ABBOTTABAD, Pakistan — Pakistan criticized the American raid that killed Osama bin Laden as an "unauthorized unilateral action," laying bare the strains the operation has put on an already rocky alliance.

U.S. legislators along with the leaders of Britain and France questioned how the Pakistani government could not have known the al-Qaida leader was living in a garrison town less than a two-hour drive from the capital and had apparently lived there for years.

"I find it hard to believe that the presence of a person or individual such as bin Laden in a large compound in a relatively small town ... could go completely unnoticed," French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe told reporters in Paris.

British Prime Minister David Cameron also demanded that Pakistani leaders explain how bin Laden had lived undetected in Abbottabad. But in a nod to the complexities of dealing with a nuclear-armed, unstable country that is crucial to success in the war in Afghanistan, Cameron said having "a massive row" with Islamabad over the issue would not be in Britain’s interest.

White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters Tuesday that the U.S. is committed to cooperating with Pakistan.

"We don’t know who if anybody in the government was aware that bin Laden or a high-value target was living in the compound. It’s logical to assume he had a supporting network. What constituted that network remains to be seen," Carney said.

"It’s a big country and a big government and we have to be very focused and careful about how we do this because it is an important relationship."

A day after U.S. commandos killed the al-Qaida leader following a 10-year manhunt, new details emerged today from Pakistan’s powerful intelligence agency and bin Laden’s neighbors in Abbottabad.

Residents said they sensed something was odd about the walled three-story house, even though bin Laden and his family rarely ventured outside and most neighbors were not aware that foreigners were living there.

"That house was obviously a suspicious one," said Jahangir Khan, who was buying a newspaper in Abbottabad. "Either it was a complete failure of our intelligence agencies or they were involved in this affair."

Neighbors said two men would routinely emerge from the compound to run errands or occasionally attend a neighborhood gathering, such as a funeral. Both men were tall, fair skinned and bearded.

"People were skeptical in this neighborhood about this place and these guys," said Mashood Khan, a 45-year-old farmer. "They used to gossip, say they were smugglers or drug dealers. People would complain that even with such a big house they didn’t invite the poor or distribute charity."

U.S. officials have suggested Pakistani officials may have known where bin Laden was living and members of Congress have seized on those suspicions to call for the U.S. to consider cutting billions of aid to Pakistan if it turns out to be true.

Western officials have long regarded Pakistani security forces with suspicion, especially when it comes to links with militants fighting in Afghanistan. Last year, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton publicly said she suspected that some members of Pakistan’s government knew where bin Laden was hiding.

However, within Pakistan criticism has been focused on the U.S. breaching the country’s sovereignty. The Obama administration has said it did not inform the Pakistanis in advance of the operation against bin Laden, for fear they would tip off the targets.

A strongly worded Pakistani government statement warned the U.S. not to launch similar operations in the future. It rejected suggestions that officials knew where bin Laden was.

Still, there were other revelations that pointed to prior knowledge that the compound was linked to al-Qaida.

Pakistani intelligence agencies hunting for a top al-Qaida operative raided the house in 2003, according to a senior officer, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with the spy agency’s policy.

The house was just being built at the time of the raid by Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency, and Abu Faraj al-Libi, al-Qaida’s No. 3, was not there, said the officer.

U.S. officials have said al-Libi once lived in the house and that information from him played a role in tracking the al-Qaida chief down. Al-Libi was arrested by Pakistani police after a shootout in 2005 and he was later handed over to U.S. authorities.

The Pakistani officer said he didn’t know why bin Laden would choose a house that already had been compromised.

He also insisted the ISI would have captured bin Laden if it had known he was there, and pushed back at international criticism of the agency.

"Look at our track record given the issues we have faced, the lack of funds. We have killed or captured hundreds" of extremists), said the officer. "All of a sudden one failure makes us incompetent and 10 years of effort is overlooked."

Al-Qaida has been responsible for score of bloody attacks inside Pakistan, so on the face of it would seem strange for Islamabad to be sheltering bin Laden. Critics of Pakistan say that by keeping him on the run, Islamabad was ensuring that U.S. aid and weapons to the country kept flowing.

The Pakistani government said that since 2009 the ISI has shared information about the compound with the CIA and other Western intelligence agencies, and that intelligence indicating foreigners were in the Abbottabad area continued until mid-April.

In an essay published Tuesday by The Washington Post, Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari denied suggestions his country’s security forces may have sheltered bin Laden, and said their cooperation with the United States helped pinpoint him.

The raid followed months of deteriorating relations between the CIA and Pakistan’s intelligence service. Those strains came to a head in late January after a CIA contractor shot and killed two Pakistanis in what Washington said was self-defense.

In a statement, the Pakistani government said "this event of unauthorized unilateral action cannot be taken as a rule."

"The government of Pakistan further affirms that such an event shall not serve as a future precedent for any state, including the U.S.," it said, calling such actions a "threat to international peace and security."

The statement may be partly motivated by domestic concerns. The government and army has come under criticism following the raid by those who have accused the government of allowing Washington to violate the country’s sovereignty. Islamabad has also been angered at the suspicions it had been sheltering bin Laden.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/international/asia_pacific/view.bg?articleid=1335247

IT'S OVER ALL RIGHT......

It's been over for about the better part of two years...

Talk about a Trainwreck - Massachusetts Commuter Rail hands out big $$$ to Unions and sticks it to the riders....what a way to run a railroad!!

Two News stories.....another case of unbelievable stupidity and incompetence costing the middle class extra while rewarding those who can't get the job done.......you be the judge.

1st has been the all winter long saga of the local commuter rail service in Massachusetts - Bad service, late trains, broken down trains and poor performance all around.

Mass. GOP senators call for commuter rail hearings
By Associated Press
Monday, March 7, 2011 - Added 2 weeks ago

BOSTON - The four Republican members of the Massachusetts Senate are calling for legislative oversight hearings on the spate of recent service interruptions and mechanical failures at the MBTA.

GOP Senate Leader Bruce Tarr said the group is asking the chairs of the Joint Committee on Transportation and the chairman of the Senate Post Audit and Oversight Committee to hold one or more hearings to figure out the causes of the problems and to come up with some solutions.

The MBTA’s commuter rail trains have been plagued with delays during the winter, including a four-hour ordeal for passengers trying to get from Boston to Worcester last week

The service has been dismal, the trains are old, the cost is high ($250 a month for a monthly pass and $4 a day to park at the T station)

Sooooo....what gets printed on page B11 of the Saturday paper next to the Obituaries in the Boston Globe????

THIS does -

Commuter rail pact includes wage increase
Talks continue with other unions
By L. Finch
Globe Correspondent / March 19, 2011

Unions representing Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co. conductors and locomotive engineers agreed to a new contract Thursday, ending more than two years of negotiations. Labor talks continue, however, between the remaining commuter rail unions and the company, officials said.

The new four-year contracts with the Brotherhood of the Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the United Transportation Union afford a total 13.7 percent wage increase to members including retroactive pay to July 2009, include a $1,000 signing bonus, and cap employee health coverage contributions at $100 per month, according to statements released by the unions yesterday. This marks the first time MBCR employees will contribute to their health insurance costs; the company previously covered 100 percent of health insurance premiums.

The agreement, which runs through July 2013, also raises the layover pay for employees forced to wait for more than an hour between train routes, from half-time to five-eighths time.


ARE YOU KIDDING ME?? No wonder they have needed to charge us higher costs !! They have been footing the full bill for the healthcare all along (at the same time the public pays the full cost for our healthcare) and now that the union members will be asked to pay, they cap it at $100 a month !!! That is $25 a WEEK...who do you know has family healthcare for $25 a week....and they will get 13.7% pay increase and a $1000 signing bonus.....what a racket.

The public gets screwed, the trains are still old, not maintained, broken down and the Union idiots walk away with all of the $$$ and benefits they can haul.....the riders get screwed and the Unions walk away with the benefit. And of course, the Boston Globe buries the story on the back of the paper next to the Obits.

INCOMPETENCE of the highest order by the public sector and those who put these feckless idiots in charge of running the commuter rail which so many have to depend upon. The middle class who need this service to get to work takes another hit and the Politicians turn a blind eye to the gouging of the public....pissa.

The DNC raises the flag of surrender....Their resolution provides aid and comfort to the enemies of our way of life.

The DNC has shown that they are clueless to the nature of the situation in Afghanistan. They are trying to set a timetable for the War in Afghanistan which plays into the hands of the Taliban...As the Taliban has stated publicly, they will wait us out. Their saying has been, " The West have the watches, we have the time.."

To walk away from our responsibility to assist the people of Afghanistan is similar to what these feckless bastards wanted to do to Iraq also.

2011 will be a watershed year for this conflict. The Taliban has retreated to the Waziristan area of the AF/PAK border and the people of Afghanistan are starting to take back their country, similar to what the Iraqis did in the "Awakening". It is everyone's hope that we can resolve the situation sooner rather than later BUT there can only be Victory as to surrender Afghanistan to these murderous bastards is unaccpetable.

To cut & run as the DNC requests would be disastrous and only embolden our enemies who would like nothing more than to reestablish Afghanistan as their base of operations.

The DNC needs to understand that the price of Liberty is high, but we have always been willing to pay that price as the alternative is surrender to the dark forces who would make this world a sad place.

It is truly sad that the DNC is nothing but a sad and feckless group that has followed the failed ideals of people like Nancy Pelosi.....the Democrats that came before like Truman, FDR and JFK would be horrified by the lack of will shown by today's DNC to defend Liberty.

JFK's words echo across the years, and set the standard for what out nation has done to help those who needed our help:

" Let every nation know, whether it wishes us well or ill, that we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe, in order to assure the survival and the success of liberty."

Jack had it right - The idjits at the present day DNC are unworthy to stand in his shadow.....They knowling provide aid and comfort to the enemies of our way of life. This world is not what we want and to continue to allow our country to be attacked because we failed to act would be to surrender the security of our nation.

DNC Pressures Obama, Passes Resolution Endorsing Swift End To Afghanistan War
Posted: 02/26/11

WASHINGTON -- Members of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) gave President Obama a rare push on Saturday, adopting a resolution attempting to encourage the administration to move toward a speedier withdrawal from Afghanistan.

The resolution adopted Saturday states that "the Democratic Party supports prioritizing job creation and a swift withdrawal of U.S. armed forces and military contractors in Afghanistan which must include a significant and sizable reduction no later than July 2011."

"The passage of my resolution places the Democratic Party squarely on the side of American people who overwhelmingly support a swift withdrawal from Afghanistan, beginning with a significant and sizeable reduction in U.S. troop levels by no later than July of this year," said Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who submitted the resolution. Other submitters were DNC Vice Chairs Donna Brazile and Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) and DNC Secretary Alice Germond.

The Obama administration's policy is to begin withdrawing U.S. troops from Afghanistan in July 2011 and fully transfer security responsibilities over to Afghan forces by 2014. The pace of withdrawal is yet to be determined.

DNC resolutions are meant to express the sentiment of the party's members. Other measures approved at the winter meeting this year, which took place Feb. 24-26, include ones honoring the work of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), expressing solidarity with Wisconsin's protesters and memorializing Elizabeth Edwards.

The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

The resolution:

Resolution Supporting Ending the War in Afghanistan Now and Transferring the Funding to Job Creation, other Crucial Domestic Priorities and Deficit Reduction
Submitted by: Hon. Barbara Lee, California

Donna Brazile, DNC Vice Chair/District of Columbia

Hon. Mike Honda, DNC Vice Chair/California

Alice Germond, DNC Secretary/West Virginia


WHEREAS, the United States has been involved in war in Afghanistan for almost a decade and remains militarily engaged in what has become the longest war in American history; and

WHEREAS, the mounting costs of the war in Afghanistan, now totaling over $100 billion a year, have constrained efforts to invest in job creation and in strengthening our country and our economy; and

WHEREAS, according to a Gallup Poll released February 2, 2011, 72% of Americans favor action to "speed up the withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan"; and

WHEREAS, President Obama supports a transition to an Afghan-led security arrangement in Afghanistan "because open-ended war serves neither our interests nor the Afghan people's"; and

WHEREAS, a diplomatic solution in Afghanistan that emphasizes economic development, political reconciliation and inclusion, the engagement of regional and global stakeholders, and the safeguarding of basic human rights is essential to ensure long-term stability in Afghanistan and the surrounding region; and

WHEREAS, military and intelligence officials agree that the situation in Afghanistan will not ultimately be resolved by a military solution; and

WHEREAS, the national and economic security of the United States depend upon a national defense strategy which addresses the modern threat of global terrorism in an effective, sustainable, and comprehensive manner; and

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, the Democratic Party recognizes the enormous strain placed on the U.S. military servicemembers, and their families since 2001 as a result of continuing engagements in Iraq and Afghanistan and remains committed to ensuring that our troops have the support that they require when deployed as well as the care that they and their families need and deserve when they return home;

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Democratic Party supports prioritizing job creation and a swift withdrawal of U.S. armed forces and military contractors in Afghanistan which must include a significant and sizable reduction no later than July 2011

Wisconsin follows NJ's lead in bringing the public sector back in line with the private sector & stopping the greedy hacks

Wisconsin Gov. Walker has hit on the issue that needed to be brought forward and has shown true political leadership by bringing the costs for state employees lifetime benefits under control in Wisconsin.

Last night, at about midnight, the state's joint finance committee passed the bill, which set it up for a vote today by a session of the joint assembly. Republican Senate leader Scott Fitzgerald said that Wisconsin is leading the country "in bringing the public sector back in line with the private sector." He added, "There are no easy solutions to the problems our state is facing."

This is what was needed for too long as the state & municipal employees in all states have rigged the system to their own benefit for far too long and to the detriment of all other citizens.

Now OBAMA has tried to weigh in to a State issue and has tried to defend the Labor Unions ( Ever heard of "States Rights' Mr. President??)

Now, with the Gov. Scott Walker taking on unions in Wisconsin, it was only a matter of time before Obama gave his two cents. He has taken the side of the state government unions against Walker’s plan that would force state workers to cover half of their pension contributions and 13 percent of their own health insurance cuts. The plan would also strip government workers of the power to collectively bargain for higher wages unless the public approved it through a vote.

When asked about the public employee benefits cuts in Wisconsin and the resulting union protests President Obama said he saw the cuts as an “assault on unions”.

We have seen how the Democrats in Wisconsin deal with "change"....They have walked out and are in hiding......Typical of a group of feckless fools who know they are on losing side of the issue.

Run you cowards......you've shown your true colors.


Wisconsin budget fight escalates as Dems flee Madison to avoid vote
By Mary Katharine Ham - The Daily Caller Published: 1:31 PM 02/17/2011

A three-day-long stand-off at the Wisconsin state capitol between union supporters and those backing the Republican governor’s budget cuts just went to another level Thursday as Democratic senators apparently fled the state to prevent a vote on Gov. Scott Walker’s budget-repair bill, which would cut public employee union collective bargaining rights and require them to contribute to pensions and health care.

Law enforcement has been sent to find missing Democratic lawmakers, according to a Madison, Wis. ABC affiliate. State Sen. leader Scott Fitzgerald said only one Democrat is needed for quorum to vote on the controversial bill, which is expected to pass a Republican-majority Senate. The “Sergeant of Arms is going door to door to find Democratic senators.”

The budget-repair bill passed a finance committee 12-4 late last night, its last hurdle before a Senate vote, on party lines convincing Senate Democrats that moderate Republicans would not deliver them an upset victory over the Gov. Scott Walker.

Sources tell the Madison NBC affiliate that Democratic lawmakers may have left the state to avoid a vote, possibly fleeing to the Illinois border, about an hour drive from Madison. The move is a repeat of a 2003 stunt by Texas Democrats who fled to a hotel room in neighboring Oklahoma to avoid a redistricting vote.

Public employees, largely teachers and many of their students, have been protesting in Madison for three days, flooding the Capitol building with people and signage. Many Wisconsin schools have had to close due to sick-outs by large percentages of the state’s teachers.

The fight in Wisconsin has become a flash point for a national debate over budget deficits and how to solve them, with both sides recognizing the high-stakes battle will become a template for other states, no matter who comes out on top. A large defeat for unions in the battleground state of Wisconsin—the birthplace of AFSCME— would have public policy repercussions.

The Democratic Party’s Organizing for America, the leftover campaign apparatus from the Obama campaign, has entered the fray, filling buses and running phone banks for unions in Wisconsin. President Obama offered his opinion, declaring Walker’s measures an “assault on unions” despite admitting he hadn’t looked into the details.

The vote procedure is fluid in Madison now, depending on who shows up the the Senate. Assembly Democrats are reportedly still at the Capitol.

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/02/17/wisconsin-budget-fight-escalates-as-dems-flee-madison-to-avoid-vote/#ixzz1EFDz3x6s

Auto Industry lobbies to make your car even more undrivable along with taking all control away from responsible drivers....

When it comes to things like Automobiles and all other vehicles that you can drive, fly, pilot, navigate, etc., I am a big fan of keeping the technology limited to what works best for you as the person in charge. The Apollo Astronauts went to the Moon & Back with a small navigational computer and other technology that has data storage ability smaller than most cell phones....IT WORKED well for them.....why fix it if it ain't broken????

For example, SEAT BELTS are a good thing as they keep me safe - a REGULATOR that would limit the speed to some arbitrary limit set by someone else would NOT be a good thing. SAFETY GLASS in case of an accident is a good thing - COMPUTERS that control everything in the vehicle and have the ability to make the car undriveable until you pay some Geek to diagnose it at $100 p/hour is NOT a good idea.

The Feckless Bastards who decided that we needed to make cars overly complicated are at it again. First, they decided a while ago that we needed to have a computer control all the engine functions. This was foisted on us as "economizing" the car and providing better mileage....Now, when the computer doesn't like what it sees or if the car is running a little off, a RED LIGHT shows up on your dash...The sensor tells it to light that and you have to go to the service bay.

I tried once to get an inspection sticker - The guy who runs the machine said he couldn't give it to me as the "red light" on my dash would show up on the sticker machine and would automatically fail my car. I stated that the car was fine - no known issues - He replied that he said that is likely true BUT the computer can't be overridden - I asked what should I do?? Well, he could diagnose it for $100 an hour until he found the issue (NOT an option I wanted) - His other suggestion was to get some hi-test gas, add a few cans of carb cleaner to the tank, dive it around and if the light went out, come in for a sticker ASAP....

I took his advice and a day later, the light went out ! I hurried to the dealer, drove into the inspection bay and got my sticker. Yeah !! A day later, driving along when "BING", on goes the light again.....Are you kidding me ?? So an arbitrary sensor (which could be good , bad or indifferent) decides my ability to drive my car ??? THIS IS INSANE......

Now, the same arseholes have upped it one more - They want to install an "alcohol sensor system" in EVERY NEW CAR as standard equipment starting in the near future that will automatically sense whether it detects alcohol in your blood or in the air -

To Wit:

"Right now, she said, the sensors that detect alcohol levels in the air can be made to react within five seconds after a driver gets into the vehicle.

The touch-detection system currently takes 20 to 30 seconds to determine blood-alcohol content.

"But the next generation of solid-state electronics will bring it down a lot," she said."

OK, so you are out with friends for dinner, someone spills a drink on you, your car detects the alcohol on your clothing and guess what??? YOU are not driving your car anywhere....THIS is INSANE as it presumes all drivers are drunks and treats us like CHILDREN who must seek permission to drive our cars, even when we are following all vehicle laws to the letter.....These people are out of control.

By the way, here's a little something for you PRIUS drivers....something Toyota didn't share with you when you bought the car. When you reach 100,000 miles, they will recommend you change out the batteries ( Ya know, the large battery pack that makes the car all green & stuff - even though the factories that produce those batteries create 10 times the pollution one regular car would create in the course of it's entire life, but I digress) - OK, so you need to replace the batteries - COST for this procedure ??? Approximately $4000....value of a seven year old Prius that has reached 100,000 miles and needs a battery pack? - $4000....WOW that's something, you will HAVE TO shell out $4000 or you will be unable to drive a $4000 car....no way around it...And there you go....you THOUGHT you had already paid for the car but you are their chump and you will have to keep right on paying for as long as you want to drive that green (not-so-green really) car.....Good Luck with that....not me...they can go pound sand.


Well, my solution to this is to drive my classic cars - I have a 1963 Jeep Universal and I am working on restoring a 1966 VW Beetle.....Neither is subject to emissions control and neither requires a computer....I'll drive the VW in the winter and the Jeep in the summer - I can fix both and as long as they have air, spark and Gasoline, they will run and go where I want to take them....Brilliant.

F&*k these idiots and their vision of a nanny-state that mucks up cars so much that you can barely drive it or have to keep paying into the coffers of the Auto Industry to drive something YOU ALREADY PAID FOR.....They have decided to find more way along with the FEDS to keep digging into your wallet....sorry, Classic Cars are a way around this stupidity and I am all for the Old Cars.....They were better built and will last a whole lot longer AND I am the only person who decides when to drive it...or how fast.

If I violate the law doing so, I am solely responsible for that action...No need of the Government to screw-it-up so law abiding citizens have to suffer for other's stupidity and limit our liberty based on the few that muck-it-up for the many.



Technology to Take Aim at Drunken Driving
Researchers want sensory device on all cars to measure blood-alcohol level.
By ASHLEY HALSEY III
THE WASHINGTON POST

Published: Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 11:28 p.m.

The technology developed in the past decade to sniff out terrorist bombs eventually may be used to combat another scourge: drunken drivers.

Researchers funded by auto manufacturers and federal safety regulators are working on sensory devices -- to be installed as standard equipment on all new vehicles -- that would keep a vehicle from starting if the driver has had too much to drink.

"We're five to seven years away from being able to integrate this into cars," said Robert Strassburger, vice president for safety for the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, a trade group for the world's major auto companies.

The new technology would not require that the driver blow into a tube, like the interlock devices some states require after drunken-driving convictions. Instead, either a passive set of sensors permanently installed in the vehicles or touch-sensitive contact points on a key fob or starter button would immediately register the level of alcohol in the bloodstream.

Less clear is whether such technology -- which presumes that all drivers are potential drunks -- will antagonize some car buyers, and it's uncertain how much it would cost.

But that's a marketing problem for down the road.

Alcohol was a factor in 10,839 highway deaths in 2009. In the past two decades, it accounted for 268,442 deaths. And 10 percent of people in the United States recently admitted to being drunk behind the wheel in the past year.

Drunken driving "remains the leading cause of fatalities on America's roads, killing more than 10,000 people in 2009," said David Strickland, administrator of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

The "technology presents a new opportunity for us to dramatically lower drunk-driving deaths and has the potential to save literally thousands of lives every year."

THE GOAL

Strassburger, whose group is part of the development task force, said the goal is to have an operating model in two years.

The objective is to produce a device that will react in less than a second and function without maintenance for a least 10 years or 157,000 miles.

"We haven't met our criteria yet, but we feel comfortable that we will," said Susan Ferguson, a longtime safety expert who is leading the research. "Speed, accuracy and precision are the three key criteria."

Right now, she said, the sensors that detect alcohol levels in the air can be made to react within five seconds after a driver gets into the vehicle.

The touch-detection system currently takes 20 to 30 seconds to determine blood-alcohol content.

"But the next generation of solid-state electronics will bring it down a lot," she said.

The sensors have proven accurate, but precision -- consistently repeatable accuracy -- needs to improve.

Strassburger said the cost per vehicle hasn't been established, "but obviously it has to be relatively low."

"It has to be in line with other safety systems," he said. "We want the public to understand the need and how they benefit."

THE TECHNOLOGY

The technology is a direct offshoot of the quantum advances in sensory detection since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. The ability of machines to scan people, packages and luggage for tiny trace elements that would expose a terrorist threat has expanded exponentially.

"Now your typical explosive trace detection system is based on rapidly evaluating minuscule molecular substances," said Richard Bloom, an anti-terrorism expert who chairs the Aviation Security and Emergency Management Committee of the Transportation Research Board.

"If you can do that with explosives, you should be able to do that with any kind of detection, including alcohol and drugs."

Telltale devices that determine when someone has been drinking have been developed in the past decade and already are in widespread use. One celebrity, Lindsay Lohan, has worn a SCRAM bracelet, which measures blood-alcohol content every 30 minutes through a person's perspiration.

For the same type of technology to be used in cars, researchers want a response within one-third of a second.

The task force developing the system is a partnership between the Automotive Coalition for Traffic Safety and NHTSA. The initial $10 million research grant, provided by NHTSA and carmakers, paid for the first two years of research.

Additional funding from Congress is being sought so the project can be continued for the final three years, making the critical leap to refine what works in the laboratory into something that functions consistently in a vehicle.

The new technology may collide with the desire of many people who want to have a drink or two without fear that they won't be able to drive home.

Already, the technological advances gained in the fight against terrorism have created an uproar by providing airport security with revealing full-body scanners.