The Scriptorium

A court rightly decided that a business has the right to put a sign on private property and that right cannot be taken away, and the business own punished simply because the message on the sign is Christian in nature. It’s absurd that the State of New York thought they could treat this man like a criminal, and deny him the rights other business owners have under the constitution, just because of his religious beliefs. Christians must take a lesson from this gentleman and fight back when the left tries to make us accept being second class citizens. Don’t wait until your rights are taken away to realize how important they are to you.

A New York man has won a battle with the New York Department of Transportation over a trailer he parked on his private property along a public highway that was targeted because of its Christian message.

Daniel Burritt installed a tractor-trailer for his company, Acts II Construction, Inc., on private business property along U.S. Route 11 in 2007.

In May he got a letter from the New York State Department of Transportation stating that his trailer violated a state law and constituted a “public nuisance.” The NYDOT said a permit had to be obtained or the trailer would be forcibly removed and legal action would follow, even though the agency does not require permits for commercial messages being displayed.

Burritt’s legal counsel objected to the NYDOT’s requirement for a permit, saying it penalized him because of his faith.

“Christians shouldn’t be singled out and penalized for sharing their beliefs,” Alliance Defense Fund Legal Counsel Matt Bowman said. “We are pleased the court recognizes that displaying a religious message on private property has always been protected under the First Amendment.”

Bowman said the state violated the Constitution by treating religion in a less favorable manner than business because it did not take into account that a central aspect of the Burritt’s construction business is evangelism.

ADF attorneys
filed suit on behalf of Burritt in June and reached an agreement with the NYDOT to allow the trailer to stay until a decision could be reached. A state district court decision now has ordered the state to allow the sign to remain.

Link to Worldnet Daily Article

It looks like the testing of Obama is beginning. I’m sure he’ll just talk with Putin and explain the hope and changiness that he is to usher in, and all will be well. He handled that Georgia thing so well, I’m sure we have nothing to fear. And those missiles that Russia is selling to Iran for use with their soon to be built nukes? Not a problem. Diplomacy Obama style will convince Amadinnerjacket that he doesn’t really need to nuke Israel or the Great Satan. Times they are a changin’. Can you say Gog and Magog?

Russia has thrown down a new gauntlet to Barack Obama with an announcement that it will sharply increase production of strategic nuclear missiles.

In the latest of a series of combative moves by the Kremlin, a senior government official in Moscow said the Russian military would commission 70 strategic missiles over the next three years, as part of a massive rearmament programme which will also include short-range missiles, 300 tanks, 14 warships and 50 planes.

Military experts said the planned new arsenal was presumed to consist of land-based intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) rather than submarine-launched missiles. If this is the case, the plans represent a fourfold increase in the rate of ICBM deployment. The arsenal will include a new-generation, multiple-warhead ICBM called the RS-24. It was first test-fired in 2007, with first deputy prime minister Sergei Ivanov boasting it was “capable of overcoming any existing or future missile defence systems”.

The new missiles will be part of a £95bn defence procurement package for 2009-2011, a 28% increase in arms spending, according to Vladislav Putilin of the cabinet’s military-industrial commission. There will be further increases in spending in the following two years.

Link

Yet another example of how the Bush Administration kept us safe from another Jihadist attack on the homeland.

A federal jury on Monday convicted five men of conspiracy to kill American soldiers at the Fort Dix military base in New Jersey last year, but acquitted them of attempted murder, according to the Associated Press.

The jury deliberated for six days before returning its verdict against three brothers — Shain, Eljvir and Dritan Duka — and two other defendants, Mohamad Shnewer and Serdar Tatar.

The men, all Muslim immigrants who lived in Philadelphia’s southern New Jersey suburbs, face a maximum of life in prison.

Federal prosecutors said that the five men were planning to attack Fort Dix and the military personnel within it, and had taken concrete steps to train and arm themselves. During the men’s trial, prosecutors argued that evidence, including hundreds of secretly taped conversations between the defendants and F.B.I. informants, jihadist propaganda videos recovered from one suspect’s computer, and videotapes of an illegal purchase of several machine guns, showed they intended to carry out an armed assault on the base.

Link

They are living among us, and we can’t afford the Left’s denials that the War on Terror even exists.

No matter what you think of George Bush’s politics, you can’t argue that he isn’t a decent and kind human being. I can’t imagine Obama ever doing this without a full herd of press lackeys tagging along to cover it.

For much of the past seven years, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney have waged a clandestine operation inside the White House. It has involved thousands of military personnel, private presidential letters and meetings that were kept off their public calendars or sometimes left the news media in the dark.

Their mission: to comfort the families of soldiers who died fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and to lift the spirits of those wounded in the service of their country.

On Monday, the president is set to make a more common public trip – with reporters in tow – to Walter Reed Army Medical Center, home to many of the wounded and a symbol of controversy earlier in his presidency over the quality of care the veterans were receiving.

GIVING SUPPORT: Vice President Dick Cheney, an avid fly-fisherman, practices his cast with wounded troops from Walter Reed Army Medical Center during one of the half-dozen barbecues he’s hosted at his Naval Observatory home. (White House photo)

But the size and scope of Mr. Bush’s and Mr. Cheney’s private endeavors to meet with wounded soliders and families of the fallen far exceed anything that has been witnessed publicly, according to interviews with more than a dozen officials familiar with the effort.

“People say, ‘Why would you do that?’” the president said in an Oval Office interview with The Washington Times on Friday. “And the answer is: This is my duty. The president is commander in chief, but the president is often comforter in chief, as well. It is my duty to be – to try to comfort as best as I humanly can a loved one who is in anguish.”

Mr. Bush, for instance, has sent personal letters to the families of every one of the more than 4,000 troops who have died in the two wars, an enormous personal effort that consumed hours of his time and escaped public notice. The task, along with meeting family members of troops killed in action, has been so wrenching – balancing the anger, grief and pride of families coping with the loss symbolized by a flag-draped coffin – that the president often leaned on his wife, Laura, for emotional support.

It’s long, but read it all.

For anyone who thought Obama might be interested in being a centrist, think again. His pick for head of the labor department is an unabashed Communist. That’s the direction this country will continue to go, unless Conservatives wake up to reality and fight back.

President-elect Barack Obama’s choice to head the Labor Department has close ties to U.S. communist and socialist organizations and has sent representatives to functions organized by national parties for both ideologies.

The pick of Rep. Hilda L. Solis, D-Calif., a Congressional Hispanic Caucus leader considered to be one of the most reliably pro-union voices in the House, was hailed as a victory by communist and socialist leaders.

An article this past weekend in the Communist Party USA’s People’s Weekly World Newspaper welcomed Solis and quoted known socialist leaders calling her a “great choice” and an “outstanding” selection with “a life-long commitment to working people.”

Among other personalities, the Communist paper quoted former Rep. David Bonior, D-Mich., a top economic adviser to Obama, calling Solis a “terrific leader who I know first-hand will work tirelessly on behalf of America’s working families.”

WND previously reported Bonior is listed as a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA, an organization dedicated to transforming America into a socialist society. He was a frontrunner for the labor secretary post, but endorsed Solis after dropping out of the race.

Link to full article

Putin is still enjoying success, as he tries to take Russia back to the days of the old KGB. A proposed bill would mark a major step in that direction by imposing treason charges on citizens accused of “harming the constitutional order”. That’s KGB for disagreeing with the government, or protesting it’s policies in any way. Russia is facing far worse economic conditions than the rest of the world, because their economy was a disaster to begin with, so expect expedited crack downs on free speech or any publicly displayed civil unrest. Dictators love a crisis. It presents the perfect cover for a large scale power grab. Democrats in America are fully aware of this, too.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin warned Russia’s foes on Friday against trying to destabilize a country facing broadening economic crisis, Russian news agencies reported.

Putin did not specify who might pose a threat to Russia’s stability. But in the past, he has often blamed Western security services of trying to destabilize the country using opposition groups and non-governmental organizations as their instruments.

“Any attempts to weaken or destabilize Russia, harm the interests of the country will be toughly suppressed,” they quoted ex-KGB spy Putin as telling an annual meeting of top spies and security officers ahead of their professional holiday.

Putin, who was the Russian president in 2000-08, has contributed greatly to the growth of influence of Russia’s FSB federal security service, a successor of the Soviet-era KGB.

Many ex-KGB officers became key government and regional officials during his presidency forming his power base, which largely remained intact after Putin handed over powers to his successor Dmitry Medvedev in May.

Critics say that under Putin, security services have become excessively influential and expressed fears Russia could one day become a police state.

Link

Buddhists are taking a few lines from the Islamists’ playbook, and either holding Christian converts captive in attempt to force them back to Buddhism, or demanding that they leave the prominently Buddhist area. It’s a peaceful and tolerant religion, though. These false religions that are so often championed by the left all have one thing in common – hypocrisy.

Buddhist clerics and local council officials are holding 13 newly converted Christians captive in a pagoda in a southeastern mountainous district of Bangladesh in an attempt to forcibly return them to Buddhism.

A spokesman for the Parbatta Adivasi (Hill Tract) Christian Church told Compass on condition of anonymity that “the plight of the Christians is horrifying.”

Local government council officials in Jorachuri sub-district in Rangamati district, some 300 kilometers (186 miles) southeast of Dhaka, are helping the Buddhist monks to hold the Christians against their will, he said.

“The 13 tribal Christians were taken forcefully to a pagoda on Dec. 10 to accept Buddhism against their will,” he said. “They will be kept in a pagoda for 10 days to perform the rituals to be Buddhists – their heads were shaved, and they were given yellow saffron robes to dress in.”

All the captive Christians are men between 28 and 52 years old, he said. They became Christians around four months ago at various times in the country, which has a Buddhist population of 0.7 percent. Muslims make up nearly 90 percent of the Bangladeshi population, with Hindus accounting for about 9 percent, according to government figures.

According to the source, two Buddhist clerics, Pronoyon Chakma and Jianoprio Vikku, and two local council members, Vira Chakma and Rubichandra Chakma, were behind the anti-Christian activities along with nine other Buddhist leaders.

“It’s the first time they have taken 13 Christians to the pagoda to make them Buddhist – this is how they plan to make Buddhists of all the converted Christians in that area,” he said. “The pagoda has little capacity to accommodate them; otherwise they would hold captive more than 13 people.”

The Christian leader said Buddhist leaders and local council officials have warned Christians to return to Buddhism or be evicted, saying, “You cannot live here – you have to leave this place with your family members because you became Christians. Those who became Christians cannot live in this predominantly Buddhist area.”

Fearing for their lives, the source said, some area Christians have gone into hiding……

Full Article

Obama revealed on his website his plan to dramatically increase funding for abortion providers, including Planned Parenthood. During an economic crisis, it is the height of arrogance to increase funding to the death cult abortionists, especially when a majority of Americans do not think people who are against abortion should be forced by the government to fund it. Obama could take a lesson from Sarah Palin on how to spend the people’s money.

A pro-life group in Washington has launched a campaign to oppose what it calls president-elect Barack Obama’s planned $1.5 billion “bailout” of the abortion industry.

Last week, the Obama-Biden Transition Project posted a report on its website that calls for dramatic policy reversals on abortion, including $1 billion in taxpayer money for international abortion groups like Planned Parenthood. The report, titled “Advancing Reproductive Rights and Health in a New Administration,” also calls for a 133-percent increase in funding for the Title X program, which funds Planned Parenthood clinics across the country.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, is hoping a Republican-led effort in the Senate will block Obama’s plan to substantially increase taxpayer funding of Marjorie Dannenfelserthe abortion industry.

“This billion-dollar bailout of the abortion industry comes at a time, number one, when the economy is suffering dramatically with true need. And number two, it communicates an incredible depth of arrogance, especially when you consider that the vast majority of Americans — men and women, no matter who you talk to — they don’t believe that people who don’t believe in abortion should be funding it,” she contends. “Most Americans don’t believe that we should be funding abortions, especially in a time of economic crisis.”

The Susan B. Anthony List has started a “Stop the Abortion Bailout” campaign designed to recruit thousands of activists to send letters to their senators “with the goal of securing the 41 votes necessary to sustain a Senate filibuster of the abortion bailout.”

Link

Maybe the terrorists in Gaza are counting on a weak, inexperienced President who has historically supported Palestinian terrorists over our only ally in the Middle East. They have stepped up their rocket attacks on Israel once again, violating a “peace treaty” that never really was, and forcing Ehud Barak to whine that they might have to retaliate if the terrorists don’t play nice and stop killing Jews.

Despite some 24 rockets hitting the western Negev Wednesday, Defense Minister Ehud Barak said that Israel would not rush into an operation in Gaza.

“We are not deterred from an operation in Gaza but we are also not rushing into one,” Barak said during a conference at the Institute for National Security Studies. “When there is no choice we will act when and where we see fit.”

Three people were lightly wounded late Wednesday afternoon when two Kassam rocket fired by Gaza terrorists landed next to a Sderot shopping parade.

Cars and shops were also damaged in the attack, which came when hundreds of people were doing their shopping in the area.

The casualties were evacuated to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon.

Islamic Jihad claimed responsibility for firing the rockets.

Following the attack, the IAF renewed air strikes against rocket squads, aiming at launchers in northern Gaza, the army said. Palestinian hospital officials said a 47-year-old man was killed when a missile hit his house and a balcony collapsed on him.

Later, four more Kassams hit the Sdot Negev region, one damaging a building, and another landed in the Sha’ar Hanegev region. No additional casualties were reported.

In response to the ongoing cease-fire breaches, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert warned of impending Israeli military action.

“The rocket fire is just clarifying what we’ve been saying all along, that we can’t have a situation where supposedly there is an agreed-upon ceasefire, while the reality on the ground is completely different,” Olmert said after voting in the Kadima primaries.

“Of course this demands that we address it,” the prime minister continued, “And we will address it.”

Link

I had no idea politicians were trying to get enough states to vote for a new Constitutional Convention. Why hasn’t the MSM reported this? Don’t answer that.

If today’s politicians and judges are allowed to change our constitution to “reflect today’s societal mores”, we will see our right to self defense taken away, free speech will be made a right given to us by the government instead of by our Creator, and abortion, euthanasia, and gay marriage will become rights under the constitution.

Chuck Baldwin, presidential candidate for the Constitution Party this year, said “If called, a modern Constitutional Convention could declare the U.S. Constitution to be null and void, and could completely rewrite the document. For example, former U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Warren Burger once declared, ‘There is no effective way to limit or muzzle the actions of a Constitutional Convention. The Convention could make its own rules and set its own agenda.’”

This may be what finally takes America down, and it’s being kept from the public until they have enough votes to move on it. Read this entire article and stay informed on what’s happening with this movement to rewrite our constitution. I’ll be blogging everything I find on it. This is by far the scariest move on our freedoms by the left that I’ve seen yet, and Obama’s election has only emboldened them. We have to wake up and fight back on this one.

A team of lawmakers in Wyoming, alarmed by WND reports that the U.S. is only two state votes away from having a new Constitutional Convention, has begun work to make certain that if a convention is held, it would have to convene in the face of their opposition.

Wyoming previously called for a Constitutional Convention but rescinded the votes in 1999.

It is unclear whether even a formal vote to withdraw a request for a convention would have an impact or whether any limits could be imposed, according to constitutional expert John Eidsmoe, author of the book, “Christianity & the Constitution. But he encouraged such rescission votes, saying if nothing more, it certainly would dampen the enthusiasm for a convention.

Last week, a public policy organization issued an urgent alert that affirmative votes are needed from only two more states before a Constitutional Convention could be assembled in which “today’s corrupt politicians and judges” could formally change the U.S. Constitution’s “‘problematic’ provisions to reflect the philosophical and social mores of our contemporary society.”

“Don’t for one second doubt that delegates to a Con Con wouldn’t revise the First Amendment into a government-controlled privilege, replace the 2nd Amendment with a ‘collective’ right to self-defense, and abolish the 4th, 5th, and 10th Amendments, and the rest of the Bill of Rights,” said the warning from the American Policy Institute.

Changes also could include the incorporation of “rights” to abortion and euthanasia, as well as the “separation” of church and state, the group said.

The warning comes at a time when Barack Obama, who was voted the next president by the Electoral College yesterday, has expressed his belief the U.S. Constitution needs to be interpreted through the lens of current events.

Read it all!

For background information see this article.

I guess “free speech zones” aren’t just for liberal university campuses anymore. A pro-life activist who simply held up a sign near an abortion clinic could be sent to prison for one year for supposedly stepping into a zone where his right to free speech is no longer allowed. When the cops are pro-choice, it only takes an accusation from an abortion clinic to send a pro-lifer to jail. It’s getting scarier every day.

A Wisconsin pro-life counselor could be heading to jail again.

baby ultrasoundA Milwaukee Planned Parenthood clinic called police complaining that Drew Heiss violated an injunction that requires protestors to stay within a certain zone.

“All he did was stand on a sidewalk holding a sign, and they alleged that he was closer than 25 feet to the door,” says Pastor Matt Trewhella, founder of Missionaries to the Preborn.

Trewhella adds that the distance has never been measured by Planned Parenthood or the police, so there is no way of proving the case. “And you know, for that the state wants to put [Heiss] in a prison for a year,” he notes. “Last time that he was facing these charges, they offered him seven months in jail if he would just confess — and he refused to do so.”

The first case was thrown out on a technicality. Meanwhile, Heiss has a wife and children at home. “Yes, Drew’s been married for about 18 years now,” Trewhella explains. “They have five kids — four daughters, one son — ranging in age from 15 down to five.”

Trewhella maintains Milwaukee police have been notoriously against pro-lifers, and he is calling for prayer for Heiss and deliverance from false charges.

Link

Before anyone feels sorry for the terrorists locked up in Guantanamo Bay, or supports closing the facility and releasing the terrorists held there, they should read this and ask themselves if they really want these people running loose.

But the picture inside Guantanamo is often an ugly one. Some prisoners do all in their power to violate the guards.

“What they do is stuff that you and I would find despicable. They save up their bodily fluid, feces and so on, and then when the guard comes to deliver food, they get a feces cocktail thrown in their face.”

It’s something Zanetti says occurs almost daily, and weighs heavily on the guards, who are tasked with feeding and clothing the prisoners and tending to them when they are sick. Hospital staff get the worst exposure of all from the detainees, he said.

“You ensure that their life is as comfortable as possible while the detainees are trying to make the guards’ life as miserable as possible.”

Those daily doses of hatred are a stark reminder about some of the men locked up inside the camp, including Mohammed, who has claimed responsibility for decapitating Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl in 2002.

“We have more than our fair share of Hannibal Lecters around here,” Zanetti said.

The war on terror is kind of a joke,isn’t it, if we’re giving money to companies that promote Jihad and fund Islamic terrorism?

Thomas More Law Center filed suit Monday morning against the U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve Board. Law Center president Richard Thompson is asking the court to halt all bailout funds from going to American International Group, Inc. (AIG). Thompson explains why.

“Because that company has a branch that is controlled by Islamic scholars and who basically support the religion of Islam through Shariah and ultimately finance terrorist activities,” he says.

That gives the government an 80-percent stake in the business, which in part has a religious orientation — which raises constitutional questions, says Thompson. “[I]t also shines a light on serious national security issues that our own government has created by direct financial support and ownership of a business that supports anti-American, radical Islamic activities,” he states in a press release.

According to that release, AIG employs a three-person Shariah Advisory Board in its promotion of Shariah-compliant businesses and insurance products. Dr. Muhammed Imran Ashraf Usmani, the Pakistani member of that board, supports the belief that Muslims in Western countries have an obligation to wage violent jihad against their host country.

While Congress and President Bush are working out a bailout deal for the Auto Industry, the United Auto Workers Union is funding a posh golf course and “education center” that has been losing money for years. Maybe along with caps on CEO salaries, the government should look into making the union give up their money pit country club. American tax payers should not be paying for union greed!

From michellemalkin.com

Black Lake Golf Club is the newest addition to the UAW’s Walter and May Reuther Family Education Center, situated on 1,000 heavily forested acres along the southeast side of Black Lake, one of Michigan’s largest inland lakes near Onaway, Michigan.

Black Lake Golf Club complements the Center’s recreational facilities, which now include a beautiful gym with two full-sized basketball courts, an Olympic-size indoor pool, and exercise and weight room, table-tennis and pool tables, a sauna, beaches, walking and bike trails, softball and soccer fields and a boat launch ramp.

The UAW selected one of golf’s most acclaimed course architects, Rees Jones, to design an environmentally responsible, championship caliber course. It was a challenge eagerly embraced by Jones, Golf World Magazine’s “Architect of the Year” in 1995.

Link

From the DC Examiner

What do UAW executives and workers do to relax? They play golf at the union’s highly touted championship caliber Black Lake Golf Club, designed by Rees Jones. The UAW golf club is in secluded Onaway, MI, as part of the union’s Walter and Mary Reuther Family Education Center. Also part of Black Lake are a learning center, a practice facility with practice bunkers, chipping and putting greens, and a small, nine-hole par-three Little Course.

Golf Digest named Black Lake as one of top “upscale public courses.” And Michigan Golf described the course as a “classic” that includes “wide, well-groomed fairways [that] provide ample room for big hitters.” But some big hitters get special privileges at Black Lake. Tee times can be reserved up to two weeks in advance by UAW execs, compared to only three days for non-UAW duffers. Cost to play Black Lake is $95 per round.

Remember all the much-deserved bad press Detroit’s high-paid Big Three executives received last month when they flew in their corporate jets to beg Washington for a tax-paid bailout? Has anybody in Congress or the media bothered to ask UAW head Ron Gettelfinger about his union’s assets and perks like Black Lake Golf Club?

As head of one of the nation’s most powerful unions, Gettelfinger doesn’t earn nearly as much as Detroit’s top CEOs. GM’s Rick Wagoner, for example, made more than $14 million last year. But Gettelfinger’s total compensation of nearly $160,000 annually far exceeds the U.S. median gross family income of $61,500 and puts him among the top five percent of all tax filers, according to U.S. Census Bureau and IRS data.

And the UAW is anything but poor, with net assets reportedly worth an estimated $1.23 billion. UAW membership has been declining for years, as it has for most major unions, but annual income from member dues, interest and other revenues exceeded $300 million in 2006.

People working for the Salvation Army in the UK have been told not to rattle their tins as they collect money for charity, because it might offend people of other religions, and intimidate them. Maybe the P.C. police should just ban Christians from the public square all together. It’s just about getting that bad, and America is not far behind.

For 130 years they have been part of Christmas, filling the air in towns across the land with music and carols.

But one thing is missing from the repertoire of Salvation Army bands this year – the percussion of rattling tins.

Members have been forbidden to shake their charity tins – even if it’s done in time to the music – in case it harasses or intimidates people. One said she had been told it might also offend other religions.

Guidelines for branches organising public collections say tinholders should simply keep the tin still.

It means that when the brass bands start up they can rock and roll all they want – but if they shake and rattle, it could put them in conflict with the law.

Councils and police can enforce the no-rattle rule and have powers to prosecute or ban offenders. The restriction was branded ‘bonkers’ yesterday both by donors and long-serving Salvation Army volunteers.

Link

Obama escaped any scrutiny during the election for his connections to convicted felon Tony Resko, but the problem may not be going away. It seems the investigation into Governor Blagojevich’s attempted sale of Obama’s Senate seat has brought with it new interest in Resko’s shady real estate deal with the Obamas. Obama surrounded himself with so many sleezy people, including his real estate broker for the Resko deal, who was none other than bleeping Mrs. Blagojevich, wife of the good governor, that one of these relationships is bound to catch up with him. Could it be that Blagojevich is willing to spill the beans on just about anything, if it will get him a plea deal? It’s almost like going through the Clinton years all over again.

Since arresting Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald has renewed interest in convicted fundraiser Tony Rezko’s part in the purchase of Barack Obama’s Chicago mansion, according to a former real estate analyst who says he was interviewed by the federal prosecutor in the past 10 days.

Kenneth J. Conner told WND he was interviewed by investigators from Fitzgerald’s office regarding the purchase of the Obama mansion and the adjacent vacant lot that Rezko’s wife, Rita, purchased simultaneously. As WND reported last week, Connor filed a civil complaint in October with the Illinois Circuit Court in Cook County alleging he was fired by Mutual Bank of Harvey, Ill., because he objected to land appraisals submitted on behalf of the Rezkos and the Obamas, with the complicity of the bank.

Connor previously confirmed to WND that he told the FBI, months ago, when he initially was fired, that the bank and the Rezkos were engaged in “fraud, bribes or kickbacks, use whatever term you want,” to benefit the Obamas.

Connor said his lawyer, Glenn R. Gaffney, also has been interviewed by the FBI about the Rezko-Obama deal within the past 10 days.

Read it all

I don’t think just ignoring Obama’s corrupt past is going to work for much longer. The media will have to cover this, or it won’t just be print news going bankrupt.

Barack Obama’s pastor of “G D America” fame is back on the speaking circuit and drawing large crowds of haters who can’t get enough of Wright’s blame America first garbage. Since one of Wright’s favorite rants is to blast Bush for not capturing Osama Bin Laden, I wonder if Wright will attack Obama with the same vitriolic rants when he doesn’t capture him either. One would have to be insane to think Bin Laden hasn’t been captured because Bush was president.

It’s also interesting that we never hear a word from the “freedom from religion” crowd, or the “separation of church and state”, ACLU types when it’s someone like Reverend Wright mixing politics and religion.

As people headed inside St. Paul AME Church in East Macon to hear controversial the Rev. Jeremiah Wright deliver a revival sermon today, a band of nearly 20 people, led by a local radio talk show host, protested the visit.

Wright silently entered the sanctuary during a choir anthem along with other ministers.

He knelt at the altar to pray while the choir finished singing.

Outside of the church, protesters shouted, “Not G.D. America, God Bless America” and “Jeremiah Wright is wrong.”

They tried to warn people going to hear the sermon that Wright preaches hate, not love.

Wright, speaking to about 350 people, delivered a traditional revival sermon based on the story of Jesus healing a blind beggar on his way to Jerico.

It should come as no surprise that Wright also expressed opinions about politics and current events.

Shouting into the microphone, Wright criticized President George W. Bush, the United States’ declaration of war against Iraq and the media.

“American boys and girls are still dying,” Wright said.

He questioned why the military hasn’t been able to find Osama Bin Ladin and the truthfulness of the media and government regarding the war.

“Wake up and smell the oil,” he said.

Wright, a Chicago minister, was President Elect Barack Obama’s preacher before snippets of some of his sermons — including one where he says “God Damn America” for its treatment of black people — became an Internet and national news media sensation.

Full Article

Wright doesn’t worship the God of the Bible. He worships himself and his culture.

We elect a weak on defense, Marxist President, and, right on cue, Russia strengthens relationships with dictators close to America geographically. Liberals loved to chastise President Bush for being too much of a “cowboy”, but there’s something to be said for being feared by your enemies. Everyone knows Obama is a push over who considers a Kumbaya-style diplomacy our best defense. As Obama’s own Vice President warned during the campaign, we will be tested.

A group of Russian warships will from December 19-23 visit the Communist island of Cuba, a long-time adversary of the United States and Moscow’s ally in the Cold War, the Russian navy said on Monday.

“This will be the first visit to Cuba by Russian warships since the Soviet era,” the Russian naval headquarters said in a statement.

The destroyer Admiral Chabanenko and two other ships will visit Havana in what the navy described as a “significant practical step towards strengthening and developing ties between the two states’ navies.”

Russian ships have been touring countries close to US waters in what is seen as a riposte to Washington’s own moves in Russia’s Soviet-era sphere of influence, including US naval deployments in the Black Sea.

Last month President Dmitry Medvedev visited Cuba on a four-country Latin American tour intended to revive what he called “privileged relations” that existed between Moscow and several Latin American states in the Cold War.

The Russian moves in Central and Latin America follow heightened tensions over this summer’s Russian military onslaught in Georgia, a close US ally in the Caucasus.

The navy also announced the completion of a visit to Nicaragua, during which it delivered aid to the Central American country led by leftist President Daniel Ortega.

Ortega is due to visit Moscow this week.

Full Article

Since the damage has already been done with the passage of the first bailout bill, I think this would be an excellent way to use the billions of dollars the government has left to spend from the bailout. Rather than the government using more of it to buy into businesses and banks, turning us into a socialist country over night, why not give all of us a break from payroll taxes for two months. It would help every working American (even those who don’t pay taxes, satisfying the Dems), and it would greatly help small businesses who could use a shot in the arm during this recession. It would reduce layoffs, help people pay off some debt, and probably get some people buying new cars, thereby helping the auto industry. I’d much rather the government let us keep our money, than take it from us and redistribute it to people they think deserve it more. I would especially prefer this to bailing out the auto industry and rewarding unions for bankrupting their own livelihoods.

Big business bailouts and “economic stimulus packages” are all the rage in the Capitol these days.

Most involve massive transfers of wealth
from taxpayers to government-directed projects.

But a new and very different bill, proposed by a heretofore little-known congressman from Texas, is gaining traction from Republicans – and even a few Democrats, according to the sponsor.

It’s called “the tax
-holiday plan.” And one version of it picked up support from the National Federation of Independent Businesses, the nation’s largest small business advocacy organization over the weekend.

“If Congress wants to jumpstart this economy, they need to do something to help small business owners gain confidence that now is a good time to grow their businesses and create new jobs,” said Dan Danner, executive vice president of the NFIB. “Passing a six-month payroll tax holiday would do just that by putting more money in the hands of small business owners to invest
in their business and by giving employees more of their own money to spend wherever they see fit.”

Read it all

The LA Times of all papers – the same paper that withheld a damning audio tape before the election to protect Obama – is now asking the question, “if he has nothing to hide why not just release his office’s contacts with Governor Blagojevich?” Amen. Now ask that same question regarding his long form Birth Certificate and we’ll be getting somehwere. Either the media is growing weary of the bullying threats of the Obama crew, or Obama’s lies and dancing around tough issues is getting too much for the MSM to cover up without looking like obvious idiots. In my opinion, they already do, but if they keep letting Obama get a pass on everything, more news rags are going to be declaring bankruptcy everyday. It’s all quite amusing to watch.

In case you’re wondering about that list President-elect Obama promised a few days ago to release in “a few days” detailing all of his office’s contacts with accused Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the vacant U.S. Senate seat, the Republican National Committee would like to fan your doubts.

Saturday, as the governor met with a high-profile Chicago defense attorney, the RNC released a short videotape (see below) detailing some of Obama’s connections to and statements about the governor, who is allegedly on FBI wiretaps trying to sell his nomination to the highest bidder.

Both Obama and U.S. Atty. Patrick Fitzgerald have said there’s no evidence of the ex-senator’s involvement in the alleged political auction. And Obama has denied speaking to the governor or his office on the Senate vacancy.

But the Chicago Tribune reported Saturday that Obama’s new White House chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel, did indeed have contacts with the governor’s office, providing a list of replacement nominees acceptable to Obama and then later adding one more.

And, it is believed, those conversations were captured by the FBI wiretaps and bugs.

That does not mean, of course, that Emanuel was involved in any wrongdoing. He’s a close political friend of Blagojevich’s in the clan-filled world of Chicago machine politics and inherited his 5th District House seat from Blagojevich when he became governor in 2002 on a reform platform.

As a representative of the outgoing senator and president-elect and a member of the same party, it would be hard to believe Emanuel or someone did not communicate somehow with Blagojevich or his staff.

What’s puzzled some people and raised suspicions among others is Emanuel’s refusal to talk about it (reportedly physically pushing one reporter’s tape recorder away and having a verbal altercation with another) and the delay on Obama’s part in releasing the promised diary of contacts.

From a practical point of view, if everything is above board, what’s to hide?

You’ve hit on something there LA Times. There IS something to hide. There always is, with Barack Obama. It’s called Chicago politics.

We’re living in scary and sad times as Christians. Palin was targeted by the media, and viciously attacked by the left because of her religion. And now, an arsonist has set her church in Alaska on fire, causing an estimated one million dollars in damage. The hatred in this country is out of control, and if you look at the news with an honest eye, that hatred is coming from one direction. The Left! Now watch as the MSM gives this story a fraction of the coverage it would have gotten if it were Reverend Wright’s church that was burned down.

Gov. Sarah Palin’s home church was badly damaged by arson, leading the governor to apologize if the fire was connected to “undeserved negative attention” from her failed campaign as the Republican vice presidential nominee.

Damage to the Wasilla Bible Church was estimated at $1 million, authorities said Saturday. No one was injured in the fire, which was set Friday night while a handful of people, including two children, were inside, according to Central Mat-Su Fire Chief James Steele.

He said the blaze was being investigated as an arson but didn’t know of any recent threats to the church. Authorities didn’t know whether Palin’s connection to the church was relevant to the fire, Steele said.

“It’s hard to say at this point. Everything is just speculation,” he said. “We have no information on intent or motive.”

Steele would not comment on the means used to set the fire.

Pastor Larry Kroon declined to say whether the church had received any recent threats.

“There are so many variables,” he said. “I don’t want to comment in that direction.”

Read more here and here.

The ACLU in Missouri is apposing a school policy that dared to treat the Bible the same way it treats all other books and literature, secular and religious. Sadly, a District Court agreed that censorship remains unconstitutional, except in the case of the Bible. Koran’s are okay for children to read in school, as are other religious texts and secular reading, but the ACLU wants to single out the Bible because, as the District Court says, “‘Bibles are different’ from other forms of religious Literature’”. I would love to hear this court explain how the Christian Bible is different than any other religious book, and how the constitution supports discriminating against one religion, while allowing others.

“How ironic that in America, until recent times, the Bible formed the basis of education, and now its mere presence is radioactive in the opinion of some judges,” he said. “The Founders never envisioned such open hostility toward the Christian religion as we see today in some venues. To single out the Bible alone for discriminatory treatment harkens back to the Dark Ages. America deserves better. Our Constitution should be respected, not disregarded.”

Staver told WND that a decision is not expected to be announced for about two months.

He said the lower court’s ban targets only the Bible.

“The Quran is OK, and other kinds of religious texts; just not the Bible. The Bible alone is impermissible in the public school,” he said.

WND reported earlier when a brief was filed with the federal appeals court.

Among the groups that have distributed material at the school are the Army Corps of Engineers, Red Cross, Girl Scouts, Boy Scouts, Iron County Health Department, Missouri Water Patrol, Missouri Highland Healthcare and Union Pacific Railroad, officials said.

“The ACLU might not like the fact that equal access also means equal treatment for religious speech, but the Constitution requires equal treatment. The First Amendment protects private religious viewpoints. Hecklers may heckle but they may not veto private religious speech. … Religious viewpoints have Constitutional protection,” Staver said.

The minutes from board meetings noted the board president “explained to the board at this point, we are an open forum and any group can request to enter our school and distribute materials – atheists, communists, gay rights, etc.” The minutes note the board members acknowledged the policy.

However, Perry banned the district “from distributing or allowing distribution of Bibles to elementary school children on school property at any time during the school day.”

“The district court
also opined that ‘Bibles are different’ from other forms of religious literature,” Liberty Counsel said.

The Gideons, a group founded in the late 1800s, have as their “sole purpose” the goal “to win men, women, boys and girls to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ through association for service, personal testimony, and distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life.”

Gideons have placed the Bible in 181 nations in 82 different languages over the years.

Read the whole article HERE.

Too many Christians in this country are in denial about the growing hostility toward Christianity in this country. This kind of blatant view-point discrimination should be causing outrage among parents, the public, and the nation. Unfortunately, I think too many Christians are willing to accept defeat, give up their constitutionally protected freedoms, and hide in their churches and private schools. We could actually take a lesson from liberals on this. Gays are an extreme minority in this country, yet they make sure they are heard, and often drown out the majority. We can do the same if we act together, and we need not use the bully tactics of the left. We can start by convincing our friends and relatives that the threat to our freedoms is real. Make sure they know about things like this. Take advantage of free Christian legal organizations like the ACLJ, and fight back when someone tries to deny you, or your children their right to free speech, or tell you when and where you can read your Bible. Don’t let your teachers, employers, etc. get away with it, and don’t let them convince you that you’re intolerant or evil for demanding the same rights they do. We are as much to blame as the Christian haters, if we continue to let them label us and intimidate us.

How many people will this scandal touch, or take out? It looks like Jesse Jr. may be in deeper than he’s been claiming. The report at least links Jr.’s brother to the deals. It’d be interesting to know whether Sr. has retained a lawyer.

Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. flatly denies that he and his brother were involved in a scheme to get him a Senate seat in a deal with scandal-tainted Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (bluh-GOY’-uh-vich).

The remarks in an interview with The Associated Press Friday came on the heels of a Chicago Tribune report that cited unidentified sources. The newspaper said businessmen with ties to the governor and congressmen discussed raising $1 million for Blagojevich to get him to appoint Jackson to the Senate. The report depicts Jackson’s brother as an active participant.

The congressman said “to an absolute certainty” that his brother was not involved in any scheming or wrongdoing.

Jackson has been identified as “Senate Candidate 5″ in a federal complaint. The governor is overheard saying the candidate would raise $500,000 for Blagojevich, and an emissary would raise an additional $1 million.

Link

You’ll remember during the campaign, Obama promised a civilian security force that would be larger and more well funded than our military. His Chief of Staff Emanuel in answer to the question, “will we have to do 50 push-ups”, said, “Yes”. Obama’s website once contained information on this force, and a plan to require all middle school and college students to serve in this new force. That language has been removed, after blogs created an uproar over his plan to draft children into service to The One. But, his plan is still being worked on, and a new Department of Defense “support of civilian authorities” plan published last week gives us a glimpse into just how much power Obama plans to give this new civilian military.

This is serious folks. This new plan would give civilian authorities the power to use the military in civilian situations where even the possibility of trouble exists. The military could be used to prevent environmental damage according to the report, or to prevent damage or injuries at special events. The wording is just vague enough to allow the military’s use for just about anything. While police forces exist to SERVE the people and stop criminal acts when they occur, this new force would be used to PREVENT people from doing things, such as causing environmental damage, and would have a “manager” that would tell the American people what to do, rather than responding to what we need from them. That means the military will be authorized to detain people before they’ve even done anything wrong. Am I the only one who has a huge problem with this?

Also, I seem to remember liberals screaming that we couldn’t put troops on the border because the Constitution prohibits the use of our military on American soil, against the American people. I guess liberals are no longer concerned about that constitutional limit to the use of the military.

Read more at Worldnet Daily. Below is a snippet from their article:

The newly proposed Department of Defense rules leave a virtually wide open door for what could be cited as a reason for military intervention.

It defines “Imminently Serious Conditions” as “Emergency conditions in which, in the judgment of a military commander or responsible DoD civilian official, immediate and possibly serious danger threatens the public and prompt action is needed to save lives, to safeguard public health or safety, or to prevent or mitigate great property or environmental damage.”

Repeatedly the rules cite “special events.”

“Special event support to non-governmental organizations is a DSCA activity,” it states under policy issues.

That, Titus contemplated, could even be a Democratic National Convention in Denver.

He said it’s important to keep the foundations of the nation in mind and that many of the principals of justice and government for America were derived from the pulpits of the 1700s.

“If you go back and look at Romans 13, the civil government was authorized to punish evil doing, not to prevent it from happening,” Titus said.

The new proposal specifically states it applies to a “potential or actual domestic crisis” and even confirms that conditions not always will allow “prior authority” before “action is necessary for effective response.”

“All this is really designed to do is legitimize by rule essentially a broader discretionary power,” Titus said.

It also reverses the role of the boss, he said, because of the repeated references to a situation “manager.”

“It’s the image that’s being created. A manager. You’re supposed to do what the manager tells you. Contrast that with civil authorities who are our servants. They’re supposed to do what we want them to do,” he said.

Udate: Here is a link to the Federal Register. Look through this to see for yourself what this executive order looks like, and just how much power Obama would be giving the government that it’s never had before. Obama basically wants to use the military as a domestic police force. This is something the U.S. military (aside from M.P.’s, O.S.I., etc) are not trained for. I guess Obama really knows how to get the militia movement going again in this country. This can’t be happening in America. But, it is.

This report from Fox Chicago claims that Obama’s Chief of Staff, Rahm Emanuel did in fact discuss Obama’s Senate seat with Governor Blagojevich and may be included on one of the many FBI surveillance tapes. It wouldn’t be the first time one of Obama’s “I never knew him/talked to him” automatic denials has turned out to be a lie. I guess, if you elect someone from Chicago, you’re bound to get a large dose of scandal, lies, and corruption. And, he’s not even in office yet. Oh, wait, I guess I shouldn’t forget the “office of the President-Elect”. Egos.

The firestorm surrounding Governor Blagojevich is putting some heat on Barack Obama’s transition team. Fox Chicago News has learned about possible conversations between a top Obama aide and the governor regarding the open senate seat. Craig Wall has the exclusive.

From Hot Air:

On the surface, this makes sense. The notion that Obama and his team had nothing to say about the Senate appointment and had no contact whatsoever with Blagojevich was ridiculous. Emanuel, with his ties to Illinois politics and his status as Obama’s right-hand man, would make the most likely candidate to handle those negotiations.

If you think the economy is bad now, wait until Democrats start passing legislation that will bring us in line with the latest version of the Kyoto Treaty. This U.N. treaty was designed for the purposes of sticking it to the United States, while letting countries like China (now the worst polluter in the world) off easy. What makes this treaty even more devastatingly ignorant is that scientists are now finding that greenhouse gases are NOT the cause of “global warming”. It’s utter nonsense to believe that they are. Does coffee get hotter when you put it in a thermos? No. Those who blame man’s CO2 emissions for global warming are trying to convince us that it is possible to raise the temperature of something by insulating it. In other words they think coffee will rise above it’s initial temperature if you put it in a thermos. They could drink a whole thermos of ice cold coffee, and still believe that this theory is true, because they want it to be true.

Isn’t it interesting how the world only listens to their favorite scientists when they are saying something they like. When scientists find man isn’t to blame for what amounts to normal, cyclical climate change, Liberals cover their ears.

The U.S. Senate will let President-elect Barack Obama sign up to a U.N. pact to fight global warming in late 2009 even if U.S. climate laws are not yet in place, U.S. Senator John Kerry predicted on Thursday.

But Kerry, designated head of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said on the sidelines of U.N. climate talks in Poland that China, India and Russia would also have to promise to cut greenhouse gas emissions to win Senate blessing of any pact.

“It will be like the difference between night and day,” Kerry, of Massachusetts, said of Obama’s enthusiasm for action against climate change after what he said were eight years of inaction under President George W. Bush.

He told Reuters support in the United States for climate action was strong enough to let Obama sign up for emissions cuts under a U.N. pact to be agreed in Copenhagen in late 2009 even if the Senate had not by then agreed matching U.S. climate laws.

“We can have commenced the (domestic) legislative process, we don’t have to have completed it,” before agreeing to cuts under a U.N. treaty, he said.

President Bill Clinton agreed in 1997 to the U.N.’s existing Kyoto Protocol for cutting greenhouse gases until 2012 but never tried to get the pact ratified by a hostile Senate.

Kerry, a Democrat beaten by Bush in the 2004 presidential election, will report back to Obama from Poznan.

By the time of the Copenhagen meeting, domestic legislation might have passed “a couple of committees” but might not have reached the full Senate “because of the economic situation and the budget issues and other things,” Kerry said.

CUTS

Obama has said he plans to cut U.S. emissions of greenhouse gases, now about 17 percent above 1990 levels, back to 1990 levels by 2020 and then by 80 percent below 1990 levels by 2050.

“Some of us believe he should go further than that” by 2020, Kerry said. “My hope is that … we may even be able to do better.”

Bush rejected Kyoto, which sets 2012 targets for 37 developed nations to cut emissions, saying it was too costly and should have also set targets for developing nations.

Kerry said that all major emitters would have to accept goals for cuts under a new treaty.

“What’s important is that we go to Copenhagen understanding that no treaty is going to pass the U.S. Senate unless it is a global solution. China, India, Russia — all countries have to be part of the solution,” he said.

“China is now the largest emitter in the world,” he said. “China has to reduce, in concrete fixed levels from its current levels. So do we. So does the EU (European Union), so does the rest of the world.” Targets could vary by country. Comments Off

You would think Obama would want to avoid four years of debate and suspicion about whether his presidency is legitimate. It would be so simple for him to release a copy of his vault birth certificate. Officials in Hawaii have confirmed that they do have a birth certificate locked away in the vault, so why not release it? Perhaps Obama is hoping the media’s lie that those officials have verified his status as a natural born citizen will eventually be accepted. They have said no such thing, of course. They admitted only that they had a birth certificate on file, and said nothing about where that birth certificate was issued, or where it says Obama was born. During the 1960′s it was Hawaii law that a foreign born child, having one parent who had lived in America, could obtain a Certificate of Live Birth (COLB) from the state of Hawaii upon filing a birth certificate with the state. The COLB is the only document Obama has produced, and it means nothing. But, if that’s all you’ve got, I guess it makes sense to put a digital copy of it on the internet and hope it satisfies those who are asking questions.

There are a dozen or more cases out there questioning Obama’s citizenship that are still making their way through the court system and are headed for the Supreme Court. Keyes’ case is one of the better ones because he can argue that he has standing as a presidential candidate named on the ballot in California. There are others, however, that also make much better arguments than the one that was recently tossed out by the Supreme Court. If this issue continues to get the attention it has been getting, even without the MSM covering it, I don’t know how the Supreme Court can continue to ignore it. As more and more people learn the facts in this case, the demand for Obama’s birth certificate is only going to grow. Should Obama be found ineligible down the road, it would look very bad for the Supreme Court to have repeatedly dismissed something so important as the eligibility of a person to hold the office of President of the United States. Americans have to show identification and proof of citizenship in this country many times throughout their lives. For the courts to tell us we have no right to demand the same of our leaders, especially from a man running for President, is absurd. The man has managed to keep his history hidden this long, though. Maybe he’s that good. We shall see.

A California public interest legal group has taken on a high-profile battle that already has at least three entire law firms lining up on the other side. But the group has promised to fight until a resolution is reached in the dispute over Barack Obama’s eligibility to be president.

The legal action by the United States Justice Foundation seeks to stop the state’s Electoral College voters, who already have been served with formal notices, from voting for Obama unless and until documentation proving his eligibility to occupy the Oval Office has been provided.

“For the sake of our Constitution and our republic, the issue MUST be resolved,” the legal advocacy group says in a new campaign seeking support for its work.

To explain the implications of not resolving the eligibility question before Inauguration Day, USJF gives several possible examples: “If President Obama issues an executive order to rescind the Mexico City Policy and allows the tax dollars of Americans to fund organizations that promote abortions overseas, the door to question the legitimacy of that executive order remains open.”

“If President Obama signs a treaty with an unfriendly power or the United Nations, the door to question the legitimacy of that treaty remains open.

“If President Obama signs a bill granting amnesty to illegal aliens, the door to question the legitimacy of that law remains open.

“If President Obama appoints new commissioners to the FCC who bring back the so-called Fairness Doctrine, the door to question those appointments and the legitimacy of the actions taken by his appointees remains open.”

Thus, contends USJF in its lawsuit: “Should Senator Obama be discovered, after he takes office, to be ineligible for the office of president of the United States of America and, thereby, his election declared void, petitioners, as well as other Americans, will suffer irreparable harm in that an usurper will be sitting as the president of the United States, and none of the treaties, laws, or executive orders signed by him will be valid or legal.”

“In other words, as long as this case is in the courts, a cloud hangs over Sen. Obama’s head. For the sake of our Constitution and our Republic, the issue MUST be resolved!” the legal group said.

Read the rest here.

Well, this explains a lot. If you give enough money to politicians, they’ll gladly hand over our money to pay you off. When will the American public learn that the government’s job is not to manage our money for us? They’re lousy at it. It’s government interference that leads to these bailouts, in the first place. Whether that interference be forcing banks to make high risk loans just to get low-income votes, or forcing auto makers to pay off corrupt union bosses with outrageous salaries that foreign companies don’t have to pay their workers, someone is going to pay – usually Joe Taxpayer.

What were major corporations such as AIG, Ford, Citigroup and Freddie Mac doing in the weeks before they asked Washington for taxpayer-funded financial bailouts?

They were donating millions of dollars to underwrite the Democratic and Republican Party
conventions.

According to a new report released today by the Center for Responsive Politics in conjunction with the Campaign Finance
Institute, the companies were some of the largest sponsors of the political conventions that resulted in the nomination of Barack Obama and John McCain for president.

In the two years spent fundraising for the conventions, CFI claims the two parties only provided the names “they elected to disclose. The institute announced today that the first official host committee reports have been released, and it now has a complete list of donors.

“The two convention host committees raised $118 million, virtually all of it in private funds: $61 million for the Democratic conclave in Denver and $57 million for the Republican one in Minneapolis-St. Paul,” it reveals. “The latter figures are almost four times the separate $16 million each party received from the federal government to support its convention.”

Read the rest here.

I’m not holding my breath for the MSM to cover this story. They barely cover Christian persecution in areas where genocide is effectively being carried out, so they likely won’t cover persecution on our side of the pond, especially when those doing the persecuting are Catholics.

As the end draws near, I’m sure we’ll see a lot more of this kind of intolerance toward evangelical Christians – the only religion it’s not intolerant to not tolerate.

According to Open Doors USA, most of the persecution against Christians comes from traditionalist Catholics in southern Mexico who believe they have the right to force others to conform to their religion. Recently, four Christians were jailed for refusing to take part in a traditionalist Catholic festival and for not paying the high quotas they were assigned to Carl Moellerhelp cover its costs.

Dr. Carl Moeller, president of Open Doors USA, notes that such oppression is common throughout Mexico. “In that case in Mexico, traditionalist Catholics is kind — they are really quasi-animists who take local beliefs and translate it into anti-Christian, anti-evangelical Christian in particular, attacks,” he contends.

Recently, evangelical families in one city were forced to sign documents promising to hold religious services only on Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday or pay fines of $74 per family.

Link

This is becoming a pattern with Obama. Someone he knows is accused of wrong doing (and in this case arrested for the worst kind of corruption), and Obama immediately denies he’s ever even talked to the guy about anything. It’s reminiscent of the “I don’t even know Ayers”, “he’s just a guy in my neighborhood”, “ok, we were on several boards together and worked together” series of lies and half truths during the campaign. When this story broke, Obama denied he’d spoken with Blagojevich, and claimed he’d never discussed with him who would fill his Illinois Senate seat. Unfortunately for Obama, evidence has once again surfaced to counter his initial claim. He must have forgotten the media coverage of the day he had a meeting with Blagojevich to discuss his Senate seat. Either Obama, like so many Narcissists, is lying out of habit when the truth would sound better, or he’s got something to hide. It’s hard to know with this guy. He keeps quite a bit of his history and associations well hidden.

Barack Obama
told reporters yesterday he had no contact with Gov. Rod Blagojevich about filling his vacated Senate seat, but a Nov. 5 news report said the president-elect planned to discuss the subject in a meeting with the Illinois governor that day.

The report by KHQA-TV’s Carol Sowers, posted on the website of the Quincy, Ill., station, said “one of Obama’s
first priorities” on the day after his election was a meeting with Blagojevich planned that afternoon to discuss the Senate seat.

A story by the Quincy station later that week indicted the meeting took place.

Reporters in Chicago yesterday asked Obama what contact he’d had with the governor’s office about his replacement in the Senate after Blagojevich was arrested by federal authorities for a “political corruption crime spree” that included an effort to “sell” the Senate seat.

Obama replied, “I had no contact with the governor or his office and so we were not, I was not aware of what was happening.”

Read full Article

I figured Obama would have some plan to silence free speech on the internet. It is, after all, the goal of every good Marxist to silence decent and foster group think through government control, and indoctrination. I am actually shocked, though, to learn just how far he will be willing to go to achieve this goal. Not only does he want to deprivatize the internet, making it fully under government control, he wants to create “international norms” for internet use, and require all citizens to use government issued smart cards to access the internet, or do anything while you’re there. This would be done in the name of security, and to prevent identity fraud.

I’d like to think this kind of power grab and violation of our civil liberties would never survive the public outrage, but, if a majority of the country is willing to elect a narcissistic Socialist to lead them, they may also be willing to defer to the wisdom of their new messiah when it comes to internet security. Read on, and be very afraid.

Newspapers are widely covering a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies calling for Obama to appoint a “Cyberspace Czar” to oversee cyberspace security. And in the words of the New York Times article, “License plates may be coming to cyberspace.”

The Center for Strategic and International Studies, whose chairman is Obama advisor Sam Nunn and whose President and CEO is John J Hamre, who was a possible candidate for Secretary of Defense under Obama. One of the members of the board of trustees is our old friend and Obama advisor, Zbigniew Brzezinski. The report’s recommendations are unsurprisingly expected to be fast tracked through the Obama administration.

(snip)

The report’s recommendations emphasize taking away cybersecurity from DHS in order to create a special department to oversee cybersecurity. It recommends ending the division between civilian and national security systems. And calls for establishing “international norms” when it comes to the internet.

And it focuses a good deal on identity verification, not just for Federal employees, but for ordinary Americans as well.

The report urges a move away from passwords, and toward physical identity verification, via a device that would verify an individual’s identity. And calls for “government issued credentials” to be used by consumers.

From Page 14 of the report.

17. The United States should allow consumers to use strong government-issued credentials (or commercially issued credentials based on them) for online activities.

Read it all