Tuesday, December 29, 2009

CaveNews YouTube Channel - Animated Magnetosphere Update - December 29, 2009




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TJZcS_Nqggs

About Real-Time Magnetosphere Simulation

http://www2.nict.go.jp/y/y223/simulation/realtime/index.html

DECEMBER 29, 2009 AT 6:07 PM CDT




Obama feigns outrage over bonuses, then approves bigger bailout for bonus-givers Fannie and Freddie


This deserves -- and will get -- much more than the passing reference of a weekend blog post, but it is significant to see this news go down the Christmas news dump:

“The Obama administration pledged Thursday to provide unlimited financial assistance to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, an eleventh-hour move that allows the government to exceed the current $400 billion cap on emergency aid without seeking permission from a bailout-weary Congress. The Christmas Eve announcement by the Treasury Department means that it can continue to run the companies, which were seized last year, as arms of the government for the rest of President Obama's current term. … Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac disclosed that they had received approval from their federal regulator to pay $42 million in Wall Street-style compensation packages to 12 top executives for 2009. The compensation packages [include] up to $6 million each to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac's chief executives.”

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Obama-feigns-outrage-over-bonuses-then-approves-bailout-for-bonus-givers-Fannie-and-Freddie--80147272.html

BlackListedNews.com | Headlines - December 29, 2009


About 36 percent of all Florida banks are ``problematic'' or ``troubled'' -- three times the national average -- according to a report released by BauerFinancial, a Coral Gables research firm.

This breakthrough is of major importance in the quest for magnetic 'meta-materials' with which light rays can be deflected in every possible direction. This could make it possible to produce perfect lenses and, in the fullness of time, even 'invisibility cloaks'.

“By 2020, genetics and brain simulation will be giving us personalised prescriptions for marriage, lifestyle and healthcare.” This is Henry Markram, director of the Blue Brain project in Switzerland, an attempt to reverse engineer the brain by building one from the ground up inside a supercomputer.


Israeli police have arrested Mordechai Vanunu, a technician who spent 18 years in prison for revealing details of Israel's clandestine nuclear programme.


The US has opened a covert front against 'al-Qaeda' in Yemen by offering support to the country's military operations, a US intelligence sources says.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has come down on Nestle for marketing juice drinks to children that aren’t as healthy as the company claims.

IT MIGHT sound like a contradiction in terms, but for the first time one of the main Irish consumer banks is moving to cashless banking in all its branches.


Pelosi's very private Hawaii vacation

While President Barack Obama enjoys a high profile vacation on Oahu, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is being allowed to stay out of the limelight while luxuriating at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort on the Big Island.


Thomas Lifson
In stark contrast to Sarah Palin, whose Hawaii vacation was photographed and touted in the press, Speaker Nancy Pelosi is enjoying a very private luxurious time at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort on the Big Island. Andrew Walden, editor of Hawaii Free Press, reports:
Guarded by US Capitol Police bolstered by officers on loan from the Hawaii County PD, Pelosi is enjoying what Hollywood Reporter calls: "...a picture-perfect stretch of beach on the Big Island's chic Kona Coast....a private Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and Pahu'ia, an award-winning oceanfront restaurant, $40 million worth of enhancements...20 new suites and ... its lauded Hualalai Spa."

According to the Hualalai Spa website, Pelosi may, "Enjoy complimentary pre-treatment rituals, relaxing by a quiet stream in the open-air Waiea, or Water of Life, garden. Or savour the lap pool, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms and cold plunges, all set amidst lush greenery. (Pelosi's) choice of skin-care and massage treatments may be enjoyed outdoors in our exotic new hales, secluded for privacy.... With the guidance of (her) spa therapist, (Pelosi may) choose from more than 20 local natural ingredients - from Hawaiian sea salt to crushed macadamia nuts - which are custom-blended to create unique personalized treatments."

It is not clear how Pelosi arrived on the Big Isle. Her controversial military transport is not immediately visible amidst the forest of private jets which now crowd Kona's Keahole Airport South Tarmac. Hawaii County is hard hit by shrinking tax receipts caused by the Obama recession, but Hawaii County Police department spokesperson Chris Loos states that the department was able to aid Pelosi's security detail without canceling other scheduled enforcement activities. Loos did not provide an estimate of the expense incurred by the County PD.
Of course, Pelosi is a "progressive" who cares about the little guy, so no media figures think her luxury break is worth mentioning.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/12/pelosis_very_private_hawaii_va.html

RELATED:

Monday, December 28, 2009

Pelosi enjoys privacy at Hualalai after Palin is hounded off Maui
By Andrew Walden :: 782 Views :: Big Island News, Hawaii State News, National News, National Politics

by Andrew Walden

While President Barack Obama enjoys a high profile vacation on Oahu, "progressive" House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) is being allowed to stay out of the limelight while luxuriating at the Four Seasons Hualalai resort on the Big Island.

Guarded by US Capitol Police bolstered by officers on loan from the Hawaii County PD, Pelosi is enjoying what Hollywood Reporter calls: "...a picture-perfect stretch of beach on the Big Island's chic Kona Coast....a private Jack Nicklaus-designed golf course and Pahu'ia, an award-winning oceanfront restaurant, $40 million worth of enhancements...20 new suites and ... its lauded Hualalai Spa."

According to the Hualalai Spa website, Pelosi may, "Enjoy complimentary pre-treatment rituals, relaxing by a quiet stream in the open-air Waiea, or Water of Life, garden. Or savour the lap pool, whirlpools, saunas, steam rooms and cold plunges, all set amidst lush greenery. (Pelosi's) choice of skin-care and massage treatments may be enjoyed outdoors in our exotic new hales, secluded for privacy.... With the guidance of (her) spa therapist, (Pelosi may) choose from more than 20 local natural ingredients – from Hawaiian sea salt to crushed macadamia nuts – which are custom-blended to create unique personalized treatments."

It is not clear how Pelosi arrived on the Big Isle. Her controversial military transport is not immediately visible amidst the forest of private jets which now crowd Kona's Keahole Airport South Tarmac. Hawaii County is hard hit by shrinking tax receipts caused by the Obama recession, but Hawaii County Police department spokesperson Chris Loos states that the department was able to aid Pelosi's security detail without canceling other scheduled enforcement activities. Loos did not provide an estimate of the expense incurred by the County PD.

A FOIA request by political watchdog group Judicial Watch last march exposed Pelosi treating the US Air Force "like her personal airline". FOX News March 10 pointed out:

In one email (Pelosi) aide Kay King complained to the military that they had not made available any aircraft the House speaker wanted for Memorial Day recess.

"It is my understanding there are NO G5s available for the House during the Memorial Day recess. This is totally unacceptable ... The Speaker will want to know where the planes are," King wrote.

The one-way flight from San Francisco to the Big Isle is 2400 miles, within the range of both the C-20 (Gulfstream III) and the C-37A (Gulfstream V) but only the C-37A could safely make the 4500 mile one-way trip from Washington, DC nonstop.

Akamai readers will of course remember how Pelosi's Congress last fall berated Detroit auto executives for flying corporate jets from Detroit to Washington to appear before Congress requesting Federal bailouts. The big three execs were forced to return to Washington a week later by car in order to get a hearing. Not Pelosi or her ultra-rich "in-group".

Pelosi's visit has not been noted in local or national media. This contrasts strikingly to the treatment meted out to another high profile Hawaii vacationer--Sarah Palin. While attempting to relax at a resort on Maui December 16 and 17, Palin, husband Todd and their children found themselves hounded by paparazzi hungry for photo bounties offered by the pro-Obama Hollywood gossip website TMZ.com. Finally they were forced to leave. Palin told Politico: "Todd and I have since cut our vacation short because the incognito attempts didn't work and fellow vacationers were bothered for the two days we spent in the sun." Palin was obligated to issue an apology for wearing a visor with the McCain campaign logo covered. Said Palin: "So much for going incognito."

The contrast between the reverential privacy granted Pelosi and the petty harassment aimed at both Palin and the Detroit auto execs is an element of the ongoing decades-long campaign of politically correct thought reform aimed at American elites. The message is simple: Toe the line or be hounded out of our circles.

Apparently some people never left high school.

http://www.hawaiifreepress.com/main/ArticlesMain/tabid/56/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/1496/Pelosi-enjoys-privacy-at-Hualalai-after-Palin-is-hounded-off-Maui.aspx



http://www.fourseasons.com/hualalai/



NewsWithViews.com | Headlines - December 29, 2009


December 29, 2009

Amnesty: Another Bulldozer of Our Republic
One of the latest carts in the long train of abuses of our federal government is the amnesty legislation introduced by Congressman Luis Gutierrez (D-IL), entitled, Comprehensive Immigration Reform for America's Security and Prosperity. Of course, former President G.W. Bush (R) and Senator John McCain (R) advocated for similar amnesty legislation that would have had similar effects, jeopardizing the lives of millions of Americans across the States of America (among other things). It is not my intent........
http://www.newswithviews.com/Timothy/baldwin108.htm
by Attorney Timothy Baldwin


Obama Officials, Dems Support Global Socialism
Former Democratic Party chairman Howard Dean said on December 8 that “cooperation” between European socialists and the Democratic Party has “intensified significantly” over the last several years and involves “regular contact” at “Congress, Senate, party and foundation levels.” He added that “efforts have been remarkable from both sides.”.......
http://www.newswithviews.com/Kincaid/cliff378.htm
by Cliff Kincaid


Top Ten Health Scandals of 2009
2009 is another bumper crop year for health scandals, an unfortunate trend that shows no signs of improvement. To the contrary, consumers should do everything in their power to stay healthy as the Big Pharma-sponsored medical profession continues to induce millions of serious injuries and hundreds of thousands of deaths per year......
http://www.newswithviews.com/Richards/byron188.htm
by Byron Richards, CCN


Credibility in Scary Times
As I stated above, this article is unsigned with no author apparent, just like the e-mail that started the whole buzz about Hardin, Montana. Who is writing and who is putting out these disinformation e-mails, and why they are doing it, is something we need to be asking ourselves. One thing is very apparent, these people are not on our side. It would appear their motive is to muddy the waters regarding the eligibility issue and draw attention away from what is really happening with AKA and his Marxist minions.......
http://www.newswithviews.com/Stuter/stuter169.htm
by Lynn Stuter

Judicial Watch Announces List of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians" for 2009



WASHINGTON, DC, Dec 28, 2009 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) -- Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released its 2009 list of Washington's "Ten Most Wanted Corrupt Politicians." The list, in alphabetical order, includes:
1. Senator Christopher Dodd (D-CT): This marks two years in a row for Senator Dodd, who made the 2008 "Ten Most Corrupt" list for his corrupt relationship with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and for accepting preferential treatment and loan terms from Countrywide Financial, a scandal which still dogs him. In 2009, the scandals kept coming for the Connecticut Democrat. In 2009, Judicial Watch filed a Senate ethics complaint against Dodd for undervaluing a property he owns in Ireland on his Senate Financial Disclosure forms. Judicial Watch's complaint forced Dodd to amend the forms. However, press reports suggest the property to this day remains undervalued. Judicial Watch also alleges in the complaint that Dodd obtained a sweetheart deal for the property in exchange for his assistance in obtaining a presidential pardon (during the Clinton administration) and other favors for a long-time friend and business associate. The false financial disclosure forms were part of the cover-up. Dodd remains the head the Senate Banking Committee.
2. Senator John Ensign (R-NV): A number of scandals popped up in 2009 involving public officials who conducted illicit affairs, and then attempted to cover them up with hush payments and favors, an obvious abuse of power. The year's worst offender might just be Nevada Republican Senator John Ensign. Ensign admitted in June to an extramarital affair with the wife of one of his staff members, who then allegedly obtained special favors from the Nevada Republican in exchange for his silence. According to The New York Times: "The Justice Department and the Senate Ethics Committee are expected to conduct preliminary inquiries into whether Senator John Ensign violated federal law or ethics rules as part of an effort to conceal an affair with the wife of an aide..." The former staffer, Douglas Hampton, began to lobby Mr. Ensign's office immediately upon leaving his congressional job, despite the fact that he was subject to a one-year lobbying ban. Ensign seems to have ignored the law and allowed Hampton lobbying access to his office as a payment for his silence about the affair. (These are potentially criminal offenses.) It looks as if Ensign misused his public office (and taxpayer resources) to cover up his sexual shenanigans.
3. Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA): Judicial Watch is investigating a $12 million TARP cash injection provided to the Boston-based OneUnited Bank at the urging of Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank. As reported in the January 22, 2009, edition of the Wall Street Journal, the Treasury Department indicated it would only provide funds to healthy banks to jump-start lending. Not only was OneUnited Bank in massive financial turmoil, but it was also "under attack from its regulators for allegations of poor lending practices and executive-pay abuses, including owning a Porsche for its executives' use." Rep. Frank admitted he spoke to a "federal regulator," and Treasury granted the funds. (The bank continues to flounder despite Frank's intervention for federal dollars.) Moreover, Judicial Watch uncovered documents in 2009 that showed that members of Congress for years were aware that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were playing fast and loose with accounting issues, risk assessment issues and executive compensation issues, even as liberals led by Rep. Frank continued to block attempts to rein in the two Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs). For example, during a hearing on September 10, 2003, before the House Committee on Financial Services considering a Bush administration proposal to further regulate Fannie and Freddie, Rep. Frank stated: "I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two Government Sponsored Enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury." Frank received $42,350 in campaign contributions from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac between 1989 and 2008. Frank also engaged in a relationship with a Fannie Mae Executive while serving on the House Banking Committee, which has jurisdiction over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
4. Secretary of Treasury Timothy Geithner: In 2009, Obama Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner admitted that he failed to pay $34,000 in Social Security and Medicare taxes from 2001-2004 on his lucrative salary at the International Monetary Fund (IMF), an organization with 185 member countries that oversees the global financial system. (Did we mention Geithner now runs the IRS?) It wasn't until President Obama tapped Geithner to head the Treasury Department that he paid back most of the money, although the IRS kindly waived the hefty penalties. In March 2009, Geithner also came under fire for his handling of the AIG bonus scandal, where the company used $165 million of its bailout funds to pay out executive bonuses, resulting in a massive public backlash. Of course as head of the New York Federal Reserve, Geithner helped craft the AIG deal in September 2008. However, when the AIG scandal broke, Geithner claimed he knew nothing of the bonuses until March 10, 2009. The timing is important. According to CNN: "Although Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told congressional leaders on Tuesday that he learned of AIG's impending $160 million bonus payments to members of its troubled financial-products unit on March 10, sources tell TIME that the New York Federal Reserve informed Treasury staff that the payments were imminent on Feb. 28. That is ten days before Treasury staffers say they first learned 'full details' of the bonus plan, and three days before the [Obama] Administration launched a new $30 billion infusion of cash for AIG." Throw in another embarrassing disclosure in 2009 that Geithner employed "household help" ineligible to work in the United States, and it becomes clear why the Treasury Secretary has earned a spot on the "Ten Most Corrupt Politicians in Washington" list.
5. Attorney General Eric Holder: Tim Geithner can be sure he won't be hounded about his tax-dodging by his colleague Eric Holder, US Attorney General. Judicial Watch strongly opposed Holder because of his terrible ethics record, which includes: obstructing an FBI investigation of the theft of nuclear secrets from Los Alamos Nuclear Laboratory; rejecting multiple requests for an independent counsel to investigate alleged fundraising abuses by then-Vice President Al Gore in the Clinton White House; undermining the criminal investigation of President Clinton by Kenneth Starr in the midst of the Lewinsky investigation; and planning the violent raid to seize then-six-year-old Elian Gonzalez at gunpoint in order to return him to Castro's Cuba. Moreover, there is his soft record on terrorism. Holder bypassed Justice Department procedures to push through Bill Clinton's scandalous presidential pardons and commutations, including for 16 members of FALN, a violent Puerto Rican terrorist group that orchestrated approximately 120 bombings in the United States, killing at least six people and permanently maiming dozens of others, including law enforcement officers. His record in the current administration is no better. As he did during the Clinton administration, Holder continues to ignore serious incidents of corruption that could impact his political bosses at the White House. For example, Holder has refused to investigate charges that the Obama political machine traded VIP access to the White House in exchange for campaign contributions -- a scheme eerily similar to one hatched by Holder's former boss, Bill Clinton in the 1990s. The Holder Justice Department also came under fire for dropping a voter intimidation case against the New Black Panther Party. On Election Day 2008, Black Panthers dressed in paramilitary garb threatened voters as they approached polling stations. Holder has also failed to initiate a comprehensive Justice investigation of the notorious organization ACORN (Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now), which is closely tied to President Obama. There were allegedly more than 400,000 fraudulent ACORN voter registrations in the 2008 campaign. And then there were the journalist videos catching ACORN Housing workers advising undercover reporters on how to evade tax, immigration, and child prostitution laws. Holder's controversial decisions on new rights for terrorists and his attacks on previous efforts to combat terrorism remind many of the fact that his former law firm has provided and continues to provide pro bono representation to terrorists at Guantanamo Bay. Holder's politicization of the Justice Department makes one long for the days of Alberto Gonzales.
6. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)/ Senator Roland Burris (D-IL): One of the most serious scandals of 2009 involved a scheme by former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich to sell President Obama's then-vacant Senate seat to the highest bidder. Two men caught smack dab in the middle of the scandal: Senator Roland Burris, who ultimately got the job, and Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr. According to the Chicago Sun-Times, emissaries for Jesse Jackson Jr., named "Senate Candidate A" in the Blagojevich indictment, reportedly offered $1.5 million to Blagojevich during a fundraiser if he named Jackson Jr. to Obama's seat. Three days later federal authorities arrested Blagojevich. Burris, for his part, apparently lied about his contacts with Blagojevich, who was arrested in December 2008 for trying to sell Obama's Senate seat. According to Reuters: "Roland Burris came under fresh scrutiny... after disclosing he tried to raise money for the disgraced former Illinois governor who named him to the U.S. Senate seat once held by President Barack Obama... In the latest of those admissions, Burris said he looked into mounting a fundraiser for Rod Blagojevich -- later charged with trying to sell Obama's Senate seat -- at the same time he was expressing interest to the then-governor's aides about his desire to be appointed." Burris changed his story five times regarding his contacts with Blagojevich prior to the Illinois governor appointing him to the U.S. Senate. Three of those changing explanations came under oath.
7. President Barack Obama: During his presidential campaign, President Obama promised to run an ethical and transparent administration. However, in his first year in office, the President has delivered corruption and secrecy, bringing Chicago-style political corruption to the White House. Consider just a few Obama administration "lowlights" from year one: Even before President Obama was sworn into office, he was interviewed by the FBI for a criminal investigation of former Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's scheme to sell the President's former Senate seat to the highest bidder. (Obama's Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and slumlord Valerie Jarrett, both from Chicago, are also tangled up in the Blagojevich scandal.) Moreover, the Obama administration made the startling claim that the Privacy Act does not apply to the White House. The Obama White House believes it can violate the privacy rights of American citizens without any legal consequences or accountability. President Obama boldly proclaimed that "transparency and the rule of law will be the touchstones of this presidency," but his administration is addicted to secrecy, stonewalling far too many of Judicial Watch's Freedom of Information Act requests and is refusing to make public White House visitor logs as federal law requires. The Obama administration turned the National Endowment of the Arts (as well as the agency that runs the AmeriCorps program) into propaganda machines, using tax dollars to persuade "artists" to promote the Obama agenda. According to documents uncovered by Judicial Watch, the idea emerged as a direct result of the Obama campaign and enjoyed White House approval and participation. President Obama has installed a record number of "czars" in positions of power. Too many of these individuals are leftist radicals who answer to no one but the president. And too many of the czars are not subject to Senate confirmation (which raises serious constitutional questions). Under the President's bailout schemes, the federal government continues to appropriate or control -- through fiat and threats -- large sectors of the private economy, prompting conservative columnist George Will to write: "The administration's central activity -- the political allocation of wealth and opportunity -- is not merely susceptible to corruption, it is corruption." Government-run healthcare and car companies, White House coercion, uninvestigated ACORN corruption, debasing his office to help Chicago cronies, attacks on conservative media and the private sector, unprecedented and dangerous new rights for terrorists, perks for campaign donors -- this is Obama's "ethics" record -- and we haven't even gotten through the first year of his presidency.
8. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA): At the heart of the corruption problem in Washington is a sense of entitlement. Politicians believe laws and rules (even the U.S. Constitution) apply to the rest of us but not to them. Case in point: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her excessive and boorish demands for military travel. Judicial Watch obtained documents from the Pentagon in 2008 that suggest Pelosi has been treating the Air Force like her own personal airline. These documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, include internal Pentagon email correspondence detailing attempts by Pentagon staff to accommodate Pelosi's numerous requests for military escorts and military aircraft as well as the speaker's 11th hour cancellations and changes. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi also came under fire in April 2009, when she claimed she was never briefed about the CIA's use of the waterboarding technique during terrorism investigations. The CIA produced a report documenting a briefing with Pelosi on September 4, 2002, that suggests otherwise. Judicial Watch also obtained documents, including a CIA Inspector General report, which further confirmed that Congress was fully briefed on the enhanced interrogation techniques. Aside from her own personal transgressions, Nancy Pelosi has ignored serious incidents of corruption within her own party, including many of the individuals on this list. (See Rangel, Murtha, Jesse Jackson, Jr., etc.)
9. Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) and the rest of the PMA Seven: Rep. John Murtha made headlines in 2009 for all the wrong reasons. The Pennsylvania congressman is under federal investigation for his corrupt relationship with the now-defunct defense lobbyist PMA Group. PMA, founded by a former Murtha associate, has been the congressman's largest campaign contributor. Since 2002, Murtha has raised $1.7 million from PMA and its clients. And what did PMA and its clients receive from Murtha in return for their generosity? Earmarks -- tens of millions of dollars in earmarks. In fact, even with all of the attention surrounding his alleged influence peddling, Murtha kept at it. Following an FBI raid of PMA's offices earlier in 2009, Murtha continued to seek congressional earmarks for PMA clients, while also hitting them up for campaign contributions. According to The Hill, in April, "Murtha reported receiving contributions from three former PMA clients for whom he requested earmarks in the pending appropriations bills." When it comes to the PMA scandal, Murtha is not alone. As many as six other Members of Congress are currently under scrutiny according to The Washington Post. They include: Peter J. Visclosky (D-IN.), James P. Moran Jr. (D-VA), Norm Dicks (D-WA.), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), C.W. Bill Young (R-FL.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-KS.). Of course rather than investigate this serious scandal, according to Roll Call House Democrats circled the wagons, "cobbling together a defense to offer political cover to their rank and file." The Washington Post also reported in 2009 that Murtha's nephew received $4 million in Defense Department no-bid contracts: "Newly obtained documents...show Robert Murtha mentioning his influential family connection as leverage in his business dealings and holding unusual power with the military."
10. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY): Rangel, the man in charge of writing tax policy for the entire country, has yet to adequately explain how he could possibly "forget" to pay taxes on $75,000 in rental income he earned from his off-shore rental property. He also faces allegations that he improperly used his influence to maintain ownership of highly coveted rent-controlled apartments in Harlem, and misused his congressional office to fundraise for his private Rangel Center by preserving a tax loophole for an oil drilling company in exchange for funding. On top of all that, Rangel recently amended his financial disclosure reports, which doubled his reported wealth. (He somehow "forgot" about $1 million in assets.) And what did he do when the House Ethics Committee started looking into all of this? He apparently resorted to making "campaign contributions" to dig his way out of trouble. According to WCBS TV, a New York CBS affiliate: "The reigning member of Congress' top tax committee is apparently 'wrangling' other politicos to get him out of his own financial and tax troubles... Since ethics probes began last year the 79-year-old congressman has given campaign donations to 119 members of Congress, including three of the five Democrats on the House Ethics Committee who are charged with investigating him." Charlie Rangel should not be allowed to remain in Congress, let alone serve as Chairman of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, and he knows it. That's why he felt the need to disburse campaign contributions to Ethics Committee members and other congressional colleagues.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/judicial-watch-announces-list-of-washingtons-ten-most-wanted-corrupt-politicians-for-2009-2009-12-28

Judicial Watch is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Judicial Watch neither supports nor opposes candidates for public office. For more information, visit www.judicialwatch.org.

SteveQuayle.com | Hot Headlines - December 29, 2009



An Introspective Look at the Future of America

How China Might Buy More Gold Than America Owns

Now I'm Really Getting Pissed Off

Doug Casey on Bungling Ben

Foreigners Send a Message: Your Debt Instruments Suck

Yemen: The New Front in the Fight Against Terror

Rash of 2009 Homegrown Terror Plots Ends ‘Denial’

Bombshell: Evidence Clearly Indicates Staged Attack on Detroit Flight

Homeland Security 101

Redoubt Comes Back to Life?

Volcano Pictures: Philippines' Mayon About to Blow?

San Diego Booms: Earthquake or Skyquake?

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Eerie Outpost Unnerves US Marines with Strange Lights and Whispers in the Night

On ‘Bloody Ashura,’ Iran’s Wired Opposition Hits Refresh

Large Hadron Collider Failure Will Leave Science Back in the 'Wilderness'

Tiny Nano-Electromagnets Turn a Cloak of Invisibility into a Possibility

Scientists Take Important Step Toward the Proverbial Fountain of Youth

NaturalNews.com | Today's Featured Stories - December 29, 2009



Drugs are more dangerous to your health than terrorists' exploding underwear (satire)
(NaturalNews) As all of North America now seems to be focused on the issue of one terrorist wearing a pair of exploding underwear, I might as well comment on this latest bit of security theater that seems to have transfixed the nation. Pictures of the...

Risk of suicide and heart attacks goes up when men are told they have prostate cancer
(NaturalNews) Imagine you are a man who has just been told you have a disease that might kill you -- prostate cancer. And the treatment may involve surgery, chemotherapy, radiation and/or hormones that could rob you of your virility, wreck your sex life...

Autism has Reached Crisis Proportions
Autism was first brought forth to the public's attention in the 1950's. Since then, it has been rising steadily. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has recently released that today 1 in 110 children are autistic. More alarming...

Toxic Burden: Women Put 515 Chemicals on Their Faces Every Day
(NaturalNews) A study published by Bionsen, a company in the United Kingdom that sells aluminum-free body products, found that the average woman applies 515 chemicals to her face a day. Makeup, perfumes, lotions, mascara, and other beauty products all...

How Regular Exercise can Help with Diabetes
Regular exercise could be a natural and effective way to help treat diabetes. A study conducted with diabetic Hispanic men and women undergoing a strength training routine found that within 16 weeks there was dramatic improvement with their...

Too Many Hysterectomies Being Unnecessarily Performed
(NaturalNews) Too many doctors are resorting to hysterectomies as a cure for a condition known as menorrhagia when other treatments are still available, according to a study conducted by researchers from the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists...

Vitamin B12 Deficiency is a Common Cause for Chronic Coughing
A recent study done by the University of Turin and Mauriziano Hospital in Italy showed a significant correlation between vitamin B12 deficiency and unexplained chronic cough. This study, which was presented at the World Allergy Organization...

Residents of DuPont Factory Town Drop Like Flies
A now-closed DuPont owned factory has contaminated the soil and groundwater surrounding a neighborhood in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. DuPont has admitted the plant's wastewater treatment was improperly handled and that the company was responsible...

Acute Drug Toxicity killed Brittany Murphy - Could it be killing millions more?
(NaturalNews) The entire pharma industry is based on the idea that for whatever's wrong with you, there's a patented chemical pill that can make it better. Feeling some anxiety? There's a pill for that. Have high blood pressure? There's a pill...


Today's health headlines from across the 'net
(Hand-picked by the Health Ranger for your education and amusement)

See all Top Headlines...



Obama gives foreign cops new police powers in U.S. - Sovereignty apparently set aside as agency exempted from law


Posted: December 28, 2009
8:57 pm Eastern

By Bob Unruh
2009 WorldNetDaily

A little-discussed executive

order from President Obama giving foreign cops new police powers in the United States by exempting them from such drudgery as compliance with the Freedom of Information Act is raising alarm among commentators who say INTERPOL already had most of the same privileges as diplomats.

At David Horowitz's Newsreal, Michael van der Galien said the issue is Obama's expansion of President Ronald Reagan's order from 1983 that originally granted those diplomatic privileges.

Reagan's order carried certain exemptions requiring that INTERPOL operations be subject to several U.S. laws such as the Freedom of Information Act. Obama, however, removed those restrictions in his Dec. 16 amendment to Executive Order 12425.

That means, van der Galien wrote today, "this foreign law enforcementgovernment

organization can operate free of an important safeguard against and abuse."

"'Property and assets,' including the organization's records, cannot be searched or seized. Their physical locations are now immune from U.S. legal or investigative authorities," he wrote.

Obama's order said he was removing the Reagan limitations on INTERPOL:

"AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES

"By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words "except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act" and the semicolon that immediately precedes them," he wrote.

At the ThreatsWatch.org website, authors Steve Schippert and Clyde Middleton gave their interpretation of the result.

"In light of what we know and can observe, it is our logical conclusion that President Obama's Executive Order amending President Ronald Reagans' 1983 EO 12425 and placing INTERPOL above the United States Constitution and beyond the legal reach of our own top law enforcement is a precursor to more damaging moves," they wrote.

"When the paths on the road map converge – Iraq withdrawal, Guantánamo closure, perceived American image improved internationally, and an empowered INTERPOL in the United States – it is probable that President Barack Obama will once again make America a signatory to the International Criminal Court. It will be a move that surrenders American sovereignty to an international body whose INTERPOL enforcement arm has already been elevated above the Constitution and American domestic law enforcement," they said.

"For an added and disturbing wrinkle, INTERPOL's central operations office in the United States is within our own Justice Department offices. They are American law enforcement officers working under the aegis of INTERPOL within our own Justice Department. That they now operate with full diplomatic immunity and with 'inviolable archives' from within our own buildings should send red flags soaring into the clouds," they said.

"Ultimately, a detailed verbal explanation is due the American public from the President of the United States detailing why an international law enforcement arm assisting a court we are not a signatory to has been elevated above our Constitution upon our soil."

READ MORE ...

http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=120363


Obama Executive Order Cedes US Sovereignty, Citizen Rights to Interpol

December 28, 2009

With Obama, always, always look at the other hand…

Yesterday, it was brought to my attention by Pierre Legrand that President Obama signed an Executive Order on December 17th that no one and I mean no one, reported on. Cue the crickets… As horrifying as the health care legislation is and I personally believe it is worthy of revolt, this Executive Order has the potential to be monstrous.

Here is the Executive Order:

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release
December 17, 2009

Executive Order — Amending Executive Order 12425

EXECUTIVE ORDER
- – - – - – -
AMENDING EXECUTIVE ORDER 12425 DESIGNATING INTERPOL
AS A PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL ORGANIZATION ENTITLED TO
ENJOY CERTAIN PRIVILEGES, EXEMPTIONS, AND IMMUNITIES

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (22 U.S.C. 288), and in order to extend the appropriate privileges, exemptions, and immunities to the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), it is hereby ordered that Executive Order 12425 of June 16, 1983, as amended, is further amended by deleting from the first sentence the words “except those provided by Section 2(c), Section 3, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act” and the semicolon that immediately precedes them.

BARACK OBAMA

Nudge, nudge folks… This seems a minor change but let us break it out for you as we see it. Let’s look at the section from Executive Order 12425.

Here’s the text of 2(c), which this Executive Order now has applying to Interpol:

(c) Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable.

This now says that Interpol is no longer subject to the Freedom of Information Act. Their premises or staff can no longer be searched either. Their files are not subject to legal subpoena or discovery. Our government could just hand documents and files over to Interpol and Americans would no longer have access to them. Interpol can legally keep files now on all citizens of the US with no right to redress.

In reality, we have just handed over our sovereignty. Interpol headquarters in the US is currently headquartered in the Department of Justice. A ‘separate’ Interpol agency has been created in the DOJ – let that sink in for a moment. Interpol has been granted diplomatic immunity now by Obama – they have exemption from being subject to search and seizure by law enforcement, US taxes and immunity from FOIA requests, etc. This action could also be used to divulge American military secrets and a whole host of horrific practices having to do with going after our military. It’s the road to internationalism on steroids.

I contend this is the foundation for an international governing and policing body. A modern day SS here in the US if you like. Remember how Obama wanted to create a civilian police force? Well, it’s here, just from a direction I never saw it coming from. I really believe you will see Interpol police forces on US soil in the near future. It will resemble the Gestapo and their intelligence gathering techniques. This police force would not be subject to our normal Constitutional oversights – remember, no search and seizure etc. You have to admire the evil genius behind all this. Just stunning.

For a great overview of all this, listen to Steve Schippert’s radio broadcast:

http://takethatradio.com/index.php/2009/12/22/the-steve-schippert-show-december-22-2009/

The Patriot Room also has a great article: Obama exempts INTERPOL from search and seizure on US lands

INTERPOL, an international criminal police organization, is now poised to reside above the United States Constitution – in a place of sanctity beyond our FBI, CIA, DIA, and all other criminal investigatory domestic organizations.

President Obama has just placed our Constitutional rights under international law.

READ MORE ...

http://www.blacklistednews.com/news-6828-0-0-0--.html

Tarpley on Russia Today: Nigerian Terrorist Patsy Yet Another CIA Ploy in US-backed Buildup of al Qaeda in Yemen Civil War


Russia Today
December 29, 2009

Tarpley tells RT that the case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab is not a matter of unconnected dots, but rather that of a protected patsy or puppet deliberately used by the US intelligence community for a Christmas Day provocation designed to facilitate US meddling in the civil war in Yemen, which is where Umar Farouk allegedly trained and was given his PETN device. Banker’s son Umar Farouk had been denied an entrance visa to Great Britain , and had been denounced to the US Embassy in Lagos, Nigeria as a possible terrorist by his own father in mid-November. His one-way ticket to Detroit was bought in Ghana for cash, and he reportedly entered Nigeria illegally. In Amsterdam , he was assisted at the Northwest Airlines gate by a “well-dressed Indian” who explained that Umar Farouk had no passport. He did have PETN, the same substance supposedly used by the mentally impaired shoe bomber Richard Reid in his abortive attack of eight years ago. In spite of all this, Umar Farouk’s US entry visa was never revoked, he never made it onto the no-fly list, and he was never thoroughly searched. These egregious lapses in normal procedure show that Umar Farouk was part of an orchestration sponsored by the CIA, which has now yielded 4 solid days of media hysteria. Obama has formulated his new version of the Axis of Evil, composed of Afghanistan-Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen. In Yemen, a civil war pits the Saudi-backed central government against the Iranian-backed Shiite Houthi rebels, whom the US has bombed at least twice this month. The goal here is to play Iran against Saudi Arabia so as to weaken both the pro-Moscow Achmadinejad government in Iran, and also those Saudi forces that are fed up with their status as a US protectorate. The US is openly now sponsoring a regroupment of “al Qaeda” (the CIA Moslem legion) in Yemen , including by sending fighters direct from Guantanamo . The new CIA-promoted entity synthetic entity is “Al Qaeda on the Arabian Peninsula or AQAP, a gaggle of US patsies, dupes, and fanatics which is claiming credit for the Umar Farouk incident. The US hopes to further dominate the exit from the Red Sea and the Suez Canal, while also easing pressure on the battered US dollar by jacking up the price of oil in an atmosphere of tension on the Arabian peninsula. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is now Totalitariano to the left, and Incompetano to the right. Rather than harassing travelers, she should resign or be fired along with the other corrupt, bungling, or complicit officials of the Obama administration involved in this false flag provocation.

Click here to see the story on Russia Today


http://tarpley.net/2009/12/28/tarpley-on-rt-nigerian-patsy-helps-us-meddling-in-yemen-civil-war/

Plan to turn farms into forest worries Obama official


Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack has ordered his staff to revise a computerized forecasting model that showed that climate legislation supported by President Obama would make planting trees more lucrative than producing food.

The latest Agriculture Department economic-impact study of the climate bill, which passed the House this summer, found that the legislation would profit farmers in the long term. But those profits would come mostly from higher crop prices as a result of the legislation's incentives to plant more forests and thus reduce the amount of land devoted to food-producing agriculture.

According to the economic model used by the department and the Environmental Protection Agency, the legislation would give landowners incentives to convert up to 59 million acres of farmland into forests over the next 40 years. The reason: Trees clean the air of heat-trapping gases better than farming does.

Mr. Vilsack, in a little-noticed statement issued with the report earlier this month, said the department's forecasts "have caused considerable concern" among farmers and ranchers.

"If landowners plant trees to the extent the model suggests, this would be disruptive to agriculture in some regions of the country," he said.

He said the Forest and Agricultural Sector Optimization Model (FASOM), created by researchers at Texas A&M University, does not take into account other provisions in the House-passed bill, which would boost farmers' income while they continue to produce food. Those omissions, he said, cause the model to overestimate the potential for increased forest planting.

Mr. Vilsack said he has directed his chief economist to work with the EPA to "undertake a review of the assumptions in the FASOM model, to update the model and to develop options on how best to avoid unintended consequences for agriculture that might result from climate change legislation."

The legislation would give free emissions credits, known as offsets, to farmers and landowners who plant forests and adopt low-carbon farm and ranching practices. Farmers and ranchers could sell the credits to help major emitters of greenhouse gases comply with the legislation. That revenue would help the farmers deal with an expected rise in fuel and fertilizer costs.

But the economic forecast predicts that nearly 80 percent of the offsets would be earned through the planting of trees, mostly in the Midwest, the South and the Plains states.

The American Farm Bureau Federation and some farm-state Republican lawmakers have complained that the offsets program would push landowners to plant trees and terminate their leases with farmers.

The model projects that reduced farm production will cause food prices to rise by 4.5 percent by 2050 compared with a scenario in which no legislation is passed, the department found.

A department spokesman declined to comment about how quickly the review would take place or whether Mr. Vilsack would revise the department's economic-impact projections.

The Senate has not taken action on climate legislation, although the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee passed a bill similar to the House's last month. That measure did not include agriculture provisions.

Sen. Blanche Lincoln, Arkansas Democrat and chairman of the Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee, has said she will hold hearings on climate provisions but has not indicated when those will take place.

The ranking Republican on the committee, Sen. Saxby Chambliss of Georgia, and his counterpart on the House Agriculture Committee, ranking Republican Rep. Frank D. Lucas of Oklahoma, wrote to Mr. Vilsack and EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson earlier this month to ask for new economic analyses of the House and Senate bills.

READ MORE ...

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/dec/29/forests-vs-food-study-worries-agriculture-chief/


John Galt | Foreigners Send a Message: Your Debt Instruments Suck


December 29, 2009

My Chinese translation abilities are not that good, but if I’m reading that caption above correctly, they were not impressed with our debt dump this week on to the bond markets. The auctions today are only part of the story. The reality is that there is competition for debt refinancing and it is now to the point where government largess will squeeze out or down right impair the ability of private industry and society to put their debt out for bid at competitive rates. Especially considering the total amounts the Federal Government, its corporate entities it now controls (GSEs, GM, Chrysler, AIG, C, etc.) , the states and municipalities, and of course private industry. Someone dared to speak the unspeakable at cocktail parties and polite society in this weekend’s edition of Barron’s. Stephanie Pombay at MacroMavens was interviewed for an article (A Jolly Good Year, Barron’s December 28th edition) and her reminder at the end of the article sums up what we are up against in the next 36 months:

The numbers, Stephanie exclaims, are unbelievably big. Uncle Sam must roll over $2.5 trillion in debt during the next two years, banks worldwide have some $7 trillion due in the same stretch and commercial real estate will weigh in with another $750 billion.

Which conjures up for her a looming new “credit-bust blitz.” Gulp!

One more time for those of you slower than the average Bernanke:

$7 trillion worldwide

$750 Billion in CRE

Yet the Federal Government through its allegedly brilliant strategy of using short term financing on continuous rolls is going to attempt to roll that $2.5 trillion (with a “T”) while competing with private entities, namely the technically insolvent fiat funny money fractional reserve banking system and the CRE enterprises they have married themselves to, for a limited pool of monies unless Benron and the boys intend to re-institute Quantitative Easing on a massive scale to insure that the system does not collapse. The problem that the Federal Reserve and the anti-Inflationistas face in to 2010 is that the debt levels are unsustainable unless the United States experiences ChiCom like growth in the 9-11% range on an annualized basis each quarter for the next four years. That ain’t happenin’ boys and girls nor will we even come close. Thus the problem that the Fed and the Treasury face as they end up squaring off against each other not due to the installation of their “boy” (Geithner) but due to the blithering incompetence that the American people (ok, sheeple) and multinationals have in their ability to control and constrain the Legislative branch of government.

READ MORE ...


http://johngaltfla.com/blog3/2009/12/29/foreigners-send-a-message-your-debt-instruments-suck/