LIMON CO (IFS) - Robert Byrd -1917-2010, the last of the "Old Bulls" that controlled the US Senate for decades and third inline to become the president at one time.  Byrd leaves a great legacy in the Senate that will take many years to match up with.  This writer really was not a 'Byrd" fan, but was very interested in his tacit approaches to solving problems on the Senate floor.  Byrd will be remembered for several outstanding "quotes" in history.  And as the Senate prepared to debate authorization for war in Iraq in early 2003, Byrd thrilled antiwar activists with his lament — "Today, I weep for my country" — and gave a speech that would be reprinted in several languages and posted on many websites — no small achievement for a man who did not use a computer.  "We stand passively mute in the United States Senate, paralyzed by our own uncertainty, seemingly stunned by the sheer turmoil of events," he admonished. "We are truly sleepwalking through history."

LIMON CO (IFS) - Speaking with Novelist Barbara Louise Holmes about  General Stanley McChrystal's Situation,  she had this to say, ". . .McChrystal's no fool, and there has to be a good reason for his name calling, and I would not be a bit surprised if there would be a  political agenda to his words.  Holmes places him among one of the "brightest"  generals in the history of the United States, and as such, this error in judgement was done for a reason.   Holmes, whose father was  a naval officer during  World War II, who saw duty in the Pacific theater of operations, gives her an understanding of the military mindset, as with her own years of service in the military, especially in the legal departments, she understands the responsibility of command of what can and can not be said between the civilian and the military side."

Holmes, starts off the conversation, like this . . ." A Hole of His Own Making - is the cry among the military leaders.  McChrystal wanted away out of the box, and to establish himself as 2012 elections as a true leader, as he has worked for the administration, and they did not listen.  So Tea Partiers, this is your moment in history, a handsome young white man, four star general, with a voice of defiance for authority, and a true leader for the party, I give you 2012 Presidential Candidate Stanley McChrystal" - this June 23, 2010, Barbara Louise Holmes.

By Steve Clemons - June 22, 2010, 9:40AM

Barack Obama has an easy choice to make: fire a general who has established a culture of insubordination and indifference toward civilian leaders and partners in government or defer yet again to a general who acquires power like medals every time he outwits or outmaneuvers the White House.
General Stanley McChrystal went over clear lines in the debate about the surge into Afghanistan with freelance comments he made in London. Recently, McChrystal stated that the move into Kandahar would slow and threw into doubt confidence in a July 2011 drawdown start date. He didn't consult with anyone before a public redesign of US strategy.
And now in this Rolling Stone report, "The Runaway General" (pdf), McChrystal and his team are reported ridiculing Joe Biden, Richard Holbrooke, Jim Jones, just about everyone not in their groove on strategy.
McChrystal has gone over too many lines.
Obama needs to fire him. If he doesn't, McChrystal's brand will be validated and the environment of insubordination and unprofessional conduct will be reinforced.
If McChrystal survives his White House encounter, then Obama will be diminished.
That is what this has come to.
-- Steve Clemons directs the American Strategy Program at the New America Foundation, publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note, and is editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo

Limon CO (IFS) - We apologize for the misstatements of British Petroleum's Mr Svanberg, he just fell out of an oil carrier to earth a couple of days ago. Oh those wee little people who his company is built upon and the gasoline gun he places to our wee little heads and charges us insane amounts of money to buy his products. Well this writer has stopped all purchases of any BP products. They will never get another cent out of me wee little pockets. On Wednesday, BP Chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg told reporters in Washington: "I hear comments sometimes that large oil companies are greedy companies or don't care, but that is not the case with BP. We care about the small people."  Is BP chairman Carl-Henrik Svanberg out of his depth as the firm fights the Deepwater Horizon disaster, or is his lack of comment tactical?  How is Svanberg, now inextricably shackled to the Deepwater Horizon disaster going to spend the remainder of his career defending the court cases, and will be otherwise unemployable.
BP will have to restructure, to contain all of the losses and find a totally new image. The oil industry business models are now being rewritten. It would be a great change of heart if all of the oil  companies would ban together to help in this issue and change their image as well. But they are a greedy bunch and will fall on the sword one by one as if like maggots on a corpse, they scramble to pick over the bones of BP's falling market shares. Svanberg, who is going to have to act on these issues, is doing well to distance himself while he can for he will be among the members of the little people in a very short time.

Danish Company Sells U.K. Supermarket Unit to Wal-Mart’s Asda

June 01, 2010

American-owned U.K. retailer Asda Group Ltd. announced Thursday that it had reached an agreement with Dansk Supermarked A/S to purchase its subsidiary, Netto Foodstores Ltd., for $1.1 billion. The deal is subject to regulatory approval in Britain, but Asda said it expects to finalize the transaction later this summer and to complete the transition of the Netto stores by the middle of 2011. The transaction will enable Asda to convert Netto’s U.K. locations into Asda stores and integrate them into its new supermarkets division for units with fewer than 25,000 sq. ft. Averaging 8,000 sq. ft., the 193 Netto stores in the United Kingdom will continue operations under existing management until Asda receives official approval.

LIMON CO (IFS) - Well Mr. President, this writer wants to thank you for taking the fall for the oil disaster. Heck, we all know who is the blame for this terrible "Drill Baby Drill" chaos and it's not you.

With the "Buck Stops Here" policy, we know that the oil corporations are in charge of this country and your hands are tied in knots, and you have no powers. We also know that the Bush Administration gave all of its power to these tyrants and they all should go to jail.

It is over the top, that since the Supreme Court has declared corporations as "people", then British Petroleum should be in prison; as they have violated many states three strikes laws.

Please place these crooks in prison.

LIMON CO(IFS) - This is totally a HATE CRIME by Superior Court Judge David Yaffe. If only the tables were turned around and Yaffe was placed in jail for a long time, his treatment would be very different. Los Angeles County and City judges are not the best people to work with. Along with their counter-parts in Ventura County, I'd pray that the Department of Justice would take them over and place all of them in prison. I always pray for the down fall of these two counties, when the day comes that the San Andreas Fault will wash them to the bottom of the ocean.

Ex-lawyer jailed 14 months, but not charged with a crime
By Abbie Boudreau, Emily Probst and Dana Rosenblatt,
CNN Special Investigations Unit


STORY HIGHLIGHTS

Former Beverly Hills lawyer has been in solitary confinement for 14 months
Richard Fine, 70, is not charged with a crime; he's being held in contempt
Supreme Court decides Monday it won't hear the case

Los Angeles, California (CNN) -- Once a dapper Beverly Hills attorney known for his bow tie, Richard Fine has been held in solitary confinement at Los Angeles County Men's Central Jail for 14 months, even though he's never been charged with a crime.

Fine, a 70-year- old taxpayer's advocate who once worked for the Department of Justice, is being held for contempt of court.

Superior Court Judge David Yaffe found Fine in contempt after he refused to turn over financial documents and answer questions when ordered to pay an opposing party's attorney's fees, according to court documents.

Fine says his contempt order masks the real reason why he's in jail. He claims he's a political prisoner.

"I ended up here because I did the one thing no other lawyer in California is willing to do. I took on the corruption of the courts," Fine said in a jailhouse interview with CNN.

More details on the Special Investigations Unit's blog

For the last decade, Fine has filed appeal after appeal against Los Angeles County's Superior Court judges. He says the judges each accept what he calls yearly "bribes" from the county worth $57,000. That's on top of a $178,789 annual salary, paid by the state. The county calls the extra payments "supplemental benefits" -- a way to attract and retain quality judges in a high-cost city.

While the practice of paying supplemental benefits is common in California, most high-cost cities elsewhere don't hand out these kinds of benefits. Judges in Miami, Chicago and Boston receive no extra county dollars.

Judges in Los Angeles County not only have the highest state salaries in the nation, they also get tens of thousands of dollars in county benefits. These payments, Fine says, mean judges are unlikely to rule against the county when it is involved in a lawsuit.

In the last two fiscal years, Los Angeles County won all but one of the nine trials that went before a judge, according to Steven Estabrook, the county's litigation cost manager.

"The reason I'm here is the retaliation of the judges," Fine says. "They figured they're going to throw me in jail and that way they feel that they can stop me."

Fine's decade-long crusade against the judges eventually led to his disbarment last year. Joe Carlucci was the lead prosecutor for the California State Bar. Carlucci says whenever Fine lost a case, he would appeal and argue the judges were corrupt.

"What he ultimately did was to delay proceedings, to level false accusations against judges," Carlucci says. "All of those lawsuits were found to have been frivolous and meritless."

Judge Yaffe and county officials refused to comment on Fine's case while it's still pending.

"Fine holds the key to his jail cell," Kevin McCormick, one of the court's attorneys, pointed out in a court filing. In other words, Fine will go free once he hands over the documents the court seeks and answers the judge's questions.

The technical term is "coercive confinement" -- jail-time until a person follows a judge's order.

"He's probably done more time than most burglars, robbers and dope dealers," says Sterling Norris of the public-interest group Judicial Watch.

Norris says Fine's confinement has gone on too long.

Norris won a case in 2008 that found county payments to judges unconstitutional. The California Legislature swiftly passed a bill that enabled counties to continue paying the extra benefits.

"I think it's a lack of judicial integrity to say enough is enough," Norris says. "We've got a man, 70-year-old attorney, in jail for over a year on coercive confinement and that is way beyond the pale. No matter what else he may have done, that is improper."

Steve Whitmore, a spokesman for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, calls the length of Fine's contempt confinement an "anomaly."

Fine's jail cell could be used for a more violent offender, Whitmore added. In fact, Los Angeles County's jails have in recent months released hundreds of inmates before their terms were up due to budget constraints.

Fine took his pencil-and-paper fight from solitary confinement to the U.S Supreme Court, which ruled Monday it would not hear the case. The court offered no explanation.

Meanwhile, Fine's family stands behind him -- even in the face of home foreclosure.

"My husband has always been the straightest arrow, hardworking, very successful attorney, and for this to happen to him is unbelievable," says Maryellen Fine, his wife of 27 years.

"I'll look back with tears with all the time I might have missed with the family," Fine says tearfully just before he is handcuffed and walked back to his cell.

"We don't know what is going to be next," says Fine's daughter, Victoria. "Every day is just one more day where I think maybe I'm going to get a phone call that says dad's coming home."


I guess Mr Fine really pissed Yaffe off; and there must be an element of truth to his accusations. This kind of vindictive and hateful treatment by those within by US legal system hierarchy is generally reserved for those without money, and whose complexions are darker than Mr Fines.

Posted: 09:57 PM ET
When I hear the term “contempt of court,” I right away imagine one of those courtroom dramas on TV, where some guy is yelling at a judge, the judge gets mad, and screams out from behind the bench, “I find you in contempt of court!” The belligerent person screams some kind of obscenity back, and is then handcuffed and hauled away by a bailiff. On TV, he’s let out of jail a day or two later when tempers have calmed down and egos have been set aside. But that’s TV. It’s a much different scenario for Richard Fine who has been held in contempt of court for 14 months now.

Fine is not a criminal – he’s a 70-year-old former Beverly Hills attorney, once known for his bow-tie.
I met him at the L.A. County Jail. He was wearing an orange jumpsuit and was handcuffed.

He considers himself a “political prisoner.” He’s been held in solitary confinement for more than one year (jail officials say that’s because other inmates could harm him), and he says he’s only been outside for about nine hours since he’s been locked up.

According to court documents, Fine is in jail because he refused to produce financial documents and answer questions when ordered to pay the other side’s attorney’s fees. That’s when Judge Yaffe put Fine in contempt of court, until Fine decided he wanted to give the court what it requested.

Well, so far, Fine is not in the mood to cooperate. Fine believes he is being held in contempt for a very different reason. He says Judge Yaffe, and other L.A. County Superior Court judges, have accepted what he calls “bribes” from the county. Fine argues the “bribes” create a conflict of interest for judges in cases where the county is a party to the lawsuit. He feels the judges should be disqualified from those cases.

L.A. County judges really do receive extra benefits from the county on top of their six-figure state salary. It’s a practice common in California that was retroactively made legal, after a 2008 case against L.A. County found the payments unconstitutional.

The county says the extra cash is a type of “supplemental benefit” that helps to attract and retain quality judges in a high-cost city. Fine doesn’t buy that argument, so for the past decade, he’s been going after judges and has tried to expose what he considers a “corrupt judicial system.”

But for the purpose of this blog, let’s put the details of his history aside for a moment, and just focus on why court officials say he’s in jail. It’s because he doesn’t want to hand over his financial records or answer questions. He is being held in what is called “coercive confinement.”

That means, unless he does what the judge wants him to do, he will remain in jail – in his case, indefinitely. It’s like the world’s longest timeout. Fine does not want to cooperate because he says he will lose his chance to appeal his case against Judge Yaffe, if he ever gets out of jail. But when does this stop being productive and start becoming a waste of everyone’s time?

Of course, we tried contacting Judge Yaffe. And of course, he said he did not want to talk to us about this case since it’s ongoing.

What will happen if Fine refuses to cooperate, and Judge Yaffe doesn’t put an end to this? Could this go on for another year, or maybe even more? At what point does “coercive confinement” become nothing more than an indefinite jail sentence.

Oh, and one more thing. In the last couple of months, L.A. County Jail released about 200 inmates before their terms were up because of budget shortages. A spokesman for the jail told me they sure could use Fine’s cell for real criminals.
Connect with CNN Special Investigations Unit on Facebook


Filed under: Abbie Boudreau • Special Investigations Unit

LIMON CO (IFS) - So the GOP's new leader is Dr. Rand Paul, and he doesn't like people with disabilities. He's against the 1965 civil rights act, that was passed for the future minorities, yet he's a doctor that practices medicine and many of his patiences are on Social Security, and they vote for this guy in the Tea Party Movement "taking back their country"! Can we say "mixed messages?" One comment from an ABC News member. . . "What Rand Paul calls "taking back America" is really stepping back to the days when angry men shot it out on main street at high noon and anyone who wasn't a bonified-white-person would have to walk in the street and eat only at selected restaurants. Also, in their drive to cut taxes, the Tea Party seems to forget that the police, firemen, military, teachers, and so on, are all paid by taxes. Cutting taxes means dumbing down our children and their children, watching your house burn down because no-one is around to drive the truck, streets full of criminals, and no way to protect ourselves from fifth world countries like North Korea."
--------------------------

Rand Paul Says He's Being 'Trashed Up and Down' by 'Democratic Talking Points'
Kentucky GOP Senate Nominee Responds to Critics After Civil Rights Act Comments

By JONATHAN KARL and DEVIN DWYER
WASHINGTON, May 21, 2010—

Rand Paul, the Tea Party's rising star from Kentucky who won the state's GOP Senate primary this week, says criticism of his views on the Civil Rights Act and other pieces of anti-discrimination legislation are "red herrings" and Democrats' attempt to "trash" his campaign.

"When does my honeymoon period start?" Paul asked George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" today. "I've been trashed up and down. ... This is a lot about politics."

Paul's comments came amid a firestorm of criticism sparked earlier this week when he appeared to question the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which he said went too far in banning discrimination by private companies.

In an interview Wednesday with MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, Paul was asked whether he believed private businesses should have the right to refuse service to African-Americans.

"Yes," Paul said. "I'm not in favor of any discrimination of any form. & But I think what's important about this debate is not written into any specific 'gotcha' on this, but asking the question: what about freedom of speech? Should we limit speech from people we find abhorrent? Should we limit racists from speaking?"

Paul's comments drew a rebuke from the White House Thursday, with press secretary Robert Gibbs telling reporters, "a discussion about whether or not you support those I don't think has a real, shouldn't have a place in our political dialogue in 2010."

Republicans also seemed to distance themselves from Paul's views. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele made it clear the GOP supports the Civil Rights Act, whatever its Senate nominee in Kentucky says.

The controversy has revived suggestions by Tea Party critics that there are racists in the movement, an allegation Paul says is dead wrong.

He says he abhors racial discrimination but he doesn't believe the government has the right to tell a private business who they have to serve.

Paul clarified his views in a statement Thursday, saying whatever concerns he may have had about parts of the Civil Rights Act, he has not -- and has never -- called for repealing it.

"Even though this matter was settled when I was 2, and no serious people are seeking to revisit it except to score cheap political points, I unequivocally state that I will not support any efforts to repeal the Civil Rights Act of 1964," Paul, 47, said.

Paul Supports Civil Rights Act

"Let me be clear: I support the Civil Rights Act because I overwhelmingly agree with the intent of the legislation, which was to stop discrimination in the public sphere and halt the abhorrent practice of segregation and Jim Crow laws," he said.

Copyright © 2010 ABC News Internet Ventures

LIMON CO (IFS) - The governor has signed a new bill that bans enthic studies in K thru 12 grades from public high schools. Well, I believe Arizona has not gone far enough. Why you ask? For one thing, it brings all of the Nation's ills to the forefront and forces us to really examined them in great detail. This writer believes that there should be no celebrated months of Black, Brown, Yellow, Red, and any other can of history months. It should be all American history months every month all year long.

LIMON CO (IFS) - This description is from Wikipedia and it tells what this office holders duties are. One thing is for sure, General Kagan is the first woman solictor ever appointed to this position in the history of the United States. The United States Solicitor General is the person appointed to represent the Government of the United States before the Supreme Court of the United States. Currently, the Solicitor General is Elena Kagan, who was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 19, 2009.

The Solicitor General determines the legal position that the United States will take in the Supreme Court. In addition to supervising and conducting cases in which the government is a party, the Solicitor General's office also files amicus curiae briefs in cases in which the federal government has a significant interest in the legal issue. The Solicitor General's office argues on behalf of the government in virtually every case in which the United States is a party, and also argues in most of the cases in which the government has filed an amicus brief. In the federal courts of appeals, the Office of the Solicitor General reviews cases decided against the United States and determines whether the government will seek review in the Supreme Court. The Solicitor General's office also reviews cases decided against the United States in the federal district courts and approves every case in which the government files an appeal.

The Solicitor General is assisted by four deputies and seventeen attorney assistants. Three of the deputies are career attorneys in the Department of Justice. The remaining deputy is known as the "Principal Deputy," sometimes called the "political deputy" and, like the Solicitor General, typically leaves at the end of an administration. The Principal Deputy currently is Neal Katyal. The other deputies currently are Michael Dreeben, Edwin Kneedler, and Malcolm L. Stewart.

The Solicitor General or one of the deputies typically argues the most important cases in the Supreme Court. Each of the attorney assistants also typically argues cases each year.

The Solicitor General, who has offices in the Supreme Court Building as well as the Department of Justice Headquarters, has been called the "tenth justice"[1] as a result of the relationship of mutual respect that inevitably develops between the justices and the Solicitor General (and their respective staffs of clerks and deputies). As the most frequent advocate before the Court, the Office of the Solicitor General generally argues dozens of times each term. As a result, the Solicitor General tends to remain particularly comfortable during oral arguments that other advocates would find intimidating. Furthermore, when the Solicitor General's office endorses a petition for certiorari, review is frequently granted, which is remarkable given that only 75–125 of the over 7,500 petitions submitted each term are granted review by the Court.[2]

Other than the justices themselves, the Solicitor General is among the most influential and knowledgeable members of the legal community with regard to Supreme Court litigation. Four Solicitors General have later served on the Supreme Court: Robert H. Jackson, Stanley Forman Reed, Thurgood Marshall, and William Howard Taft (who was Chief Justice of the United States). Some who have had other positions in the office of the Solicitor General have also later been appointed to the Supreme Court. For example, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr. was the Principal Deputy Solicitor General during the Reagan administration and Associate Justice Samuel Alito was an Assistant to the Solicitor General. Only one former Solicitor General has been nominated to the Supreme Court unsuccessfully, that being Robert Bork; however, no sitting Solicitor General has ever been denied such an appointment. Eight other Solicitors General have served on the United States Courts of Appeal.

Within the Justice Department, the Solicitor General exerts significant influence on all appeals brought by the department. Whenever the DOJ wins at the trial stage and the losing party appeals, the concerned division of the DOJ responds automatically and proceeds to defend the ruling in the appellate process. However, if the DOJ is the losing party at the trial stage, an appeal can only be brought with the permission of the Solicitor General. For example, should the tort division lose a jury trial in federal district court, that ruling cannot be appealed by the Appellate Office without the approval of the Solicitor General.

Several traditions have developed since the Office of Solicitor General was established in 1870. Most obviously to spectators at oral argument before the Court, the Solicitor General and his or her deputies traditionally appear in formal morning coats, although Elena Kagan, the first woman to hold the office, has elected to forego the practice. More significantly, the Solicitor General is permitted to "lodge" in the appellate record new evidence that would ordinarily not be considered by the justices. Another tradition, possibly unique to the United States, is the Solicitor General's right and practice of confession of judgment: the Solicitor General can simply drop a case if he or she considers the government's prior official position to be unjust, even if the government has already won in lower court.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

LIMON CO (IFS) - Beyond Prosecution, the oil company from Britain has final done what the British Army could not do in 1814 - they have destroyed the Gulf of Mexico and inflicted great economic damages on the Southern states and destroyed our environment all in the name of not having the proper equipment to seal a blown well. This writer must also gives great thanks to the George W. Bush Administration for opening the doors and helping in the destruction.

British Petroleum is without a doubt one of the most incompetent business units working in the United States. Why is there no "Three (3) strikes" with corporations? This leaking well has went from "not leaking" to "leaking very little" to "we don't know how much oil is leaking" to "we can't stop the leaking", can the US Government help us?"

One thing we do know - there's a lot of oil washing up on the beaches and it will be there for the next 50 years. I know this for a fact, because I was at school at the University of California at Santa Barbara when all that oil came ashore. Now it's over forty years later, and I still see oil on the beaches from those days.

Will BP still receive their "clean environmental awards"?

LIMON CO(IFS)- When I found out about the Arizona Immigration Law that was passed by the legislators and signed by the governor. I just new the state of Arizona must have billions of dollars in the treasury to give away to the lawyers.

This Arizona Bill is just a lawyer's bill for work!! A shovel ready employment law written for lawyers. You pick the most "tender spot" also known as the "hot button" of the electorate and exploit it and make those "concerned citizens" who love to be "excited about nothing" and make them everything with one issue, the same one from California Initiative #187, is alive and well and living in Arizona's leaders.

Do they realizes that they are going to go flat line in the wallet and bankrupt the state!!

Are they that nuts? Now other states is looking to bring this law into their states as voting issues. The problem is, it's going to work. It's going to be to many fires of immigration lawyers starting across the states. Congress better act on this one now!

I believed that we only heard "Show Me Your Papers". . . were only in the movies and not in Arizona."

The real passions are with the conservatives who want their country back. It's just a shot across the bow of President Obama's desk.

It's going to grow like wild fire in the dry grass and a gentle sweeping breeze - then it's going to sink ships of state.

This is the backlash of people with an attitude. Remember Thomas Pains' "Common Sense"? The news is instant and so is reactionaries. This is a great time for Congress to ready get on the ball and crack down on the invasion of 12 Million people in this country without papers.

It's at this time, I suggest again that we purchase Mexico.

Pay off their representatives and retire their government and let's just take over. The cost to purchase the government of Mexico and retire it's representatives is cheaper, then the cost of building a fence and the impending bankruptcy of the Great State of Arizona.


So I did a small random search and this is what I came up with as follows:

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Results 1-10 of about 10,200,000 for Arizona immigration law (0.56 seconds)
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Now, I'm not giving these guys any publicity, but it goes to show you that the law bill was written by lawyers for lawyers. It's like a banking bailout, or better yet; ". . . a shovel ready project for lawyers". They get to represent everyone from "FOR" and "AGAINST" to everyone and anything in between. It's a bonanza for Arizona lawyers.

"I've only made three mistakes in my life," the 74-year-old orator said to scattered laughter across the room. His biggest being his underestimation of President Barack Obama.

"I told Barack that everything had a season and that this was not his season. Boy, was I wrong." Vernon said, whose backing of then presidential hopeful and long time friend Sen. Hillary Clinton over Sen. Obama became controversial.

"I had been friends with the Clintons for years and in politics, all you have is your integrity. I refused to trade friendship for race," Jordan said.

Like many other black icons, Nov. 4 (Election Day) proved to be a momentous point in Jordan's life that validated what he had spent decades tirelessly fighting for.

"When the networks announced that Barack Hussein Obama was the president-elect of the United States, I did the only thing I could do: I cried." Vernon said to applause. "And the tears were not just my tears, they were the tears of my mother and father, of my grandparents, of generations of blacks."

Make it Plain tells Jordan's life story through his speeches, a story of fortitude and bravery that has been repeated throughout black history.

LIMON CO (IFS) - It's about time that Mr Hannity fall on his sword. This is called the "Right Syndrome". You are always on the side of "right", until it comes home to you - then you are proven wrong. Mr Hannity what will you do? Gagging on a twinkie you righteous bastard, and falling to your knees will not be enough to satisfy the people you have hurt over the years. I was always told, to make your words "soft and sweet", because you will never know which ones you may have to eat." Mr. Hannity you have loose face and is a disgrace again to the media community! Please Mr. Hannity -- Don't go away mad - - - just go away!!- KHS

March 18, 2010, - 5:46 am

Sean Hannity’s Freedom CONcert Scam: Almost None of Charity’s $ Went to Injured Troops, Kids of Fallen Troops; G5s for Vannity?
By Debbie Schlussel

For the last several years, Sean Hannity and the Freedom Alliance “charity” have conducted “Freedom Concerts” across America. They’ve told you that they are raising money to pay for the college tuition of the children of fallen soldiers and to pay severely wounded war vets. And on Friday Night, Hannity will be honored with an award for this “Outstanding Community Service by a Radio Talk Show Host” at Talkers Magazine’s convention.

But it’s all a huge scam.

In fact, less than 20%–and in two recent years, less than 7% and 4%, respectively–of the money raised by Freedom Alliance went to these causes, while millions of dollars went to expenses, including consultants and apparently to ferry the Hannity posse of family and friends in high style. And, despite Hannity’s statements to the contrary on his nationally syndicated radio show, few of the children of fallen soldiers got more than $1,000-$2,000, with apparently none getting more than $6,000, while Freedom Alliance appears to have spent tens of thousands of dollars for private planes. Moreover, despite written assurances to donors that all money raised would go directly to scholarships for kids of the fallen heroes and not to expenses, has begun charging expenses of nearly $500,000 to give out just over $800,000 in scholarships.

In February 2009, a well-known conservative writer sent me this, about a friend at FOX News:

The guy went on to tell me about Hannity’s “Freedom Concerts,” which are staged across the country with the proceeds going to children of slain soldiers. Of course, as the guy tells it, there’d be a lot more money every concert to go to the cause if Hannity didn’t demand–and get–use of a Gulfstream 5 plane to fly him and his family/entourage to the concerts; a “fleet” (that’s the word the guy used) of either Cadillac or Lincoln SUVs for him and his family/entourage; and several suites at really expensive hotels for him and his family/entourage. The promoter apparently values Hannity’s star demands at well over $200,000 per event. The source says he heard that Oliver North pulled Hannity aside at one of the concerts and told him that this had to stop. But that may mean that, from now on, Hannity has to fly on a G4 instead of a G5, gets only a few luxury SUVs, and two or three suites.

North is the founder and honorary chairman of Freedom Alliance.

I began investigating these claims, and lo and behold, I discovered that Freedom Alliance gives very little money to the children of slain troops to pay for college and even less to wounded troops. The stories of injuries to troops and how much Freedom Alliance gives them–$200 for a soldier from a poor neighborhood who lost three limbs–is heartbreaking. Soldiers with traumatic brain injuries, severe wounds to the face from disfiguring burns and explosions, and multiple amputations got $1,000 or less, with only a handful of exceptions.

The tax forms available to the public for the Freedom Alliance–for the years 2006-2008–paint a tragic story, a story of a charity that makes gazillions and spends very little for the purposes it claims, a charity that spends millions more on its small staff and crony consultants than it ever gives in scholarships to the children of the fallen or severely injured troops or in aid to the injured troops themselves. While Hannity’s Freedom Concerts take in millions, only a few hundred thousand go to the claimed intended recipients.

Over a year ago, when I began looking into this story, I contacted both Sean Hannity and the Freedom Alliance seeking comment and an accounting for where the money went. Both declined to answer any of my questions. Hannity refused to respond to an inquiry I sent to his personal private e-mail address asking him about the lavish expenses described in the e-mail above.

http://www.debbieschlussel.com/6938/sean-hannitys-freedom-concert-scam-only-7-of-charitys-money-went-to-injured-troops-kids-of-fallen-troops-g5s-g6s-for-vannity/

Bret Baier is the anchor of "Special Report with Bret Baier." He formerly served as Chief White House Correspondent for FOX News Channel. In this capacity, Baier reported on presidential activities on a national and international level.

With the interview with the President, Mr. Baier, you suck. Sir, you are the worst interviewer I've every seen and heard. I hope Fox get their money back, you racist piece of fecal matter.

Chief Justice John Roberts must have a long fuse, because it has taken him over two months to say anything about the blast that President Obama gave them during the State of the Union in January. Let's face it, the Supremes gave away the farm to the corporate world by letting them give unlimited money to elected officials, and silencing the average American voter. The outside influences with bales of money to the senators and congressmen from every foreign government will be welcomed and all citizens that vote will have their voices muted. So if the Chief Justice is appalled by their decision, it's because he engineered it and got the results he wanted. This all started with the Hillary Clinton presidential run with the local Virginia corporate putting up money to make a smear video against Clinton. So the Supremes wanted to expand its scope into the future and opened the flood gates of real corporate greed. Now, the Court does not want to be talked about in a negative way. They are apart of the government, and are not gods. We will hold their little feet to the fires of wrath and remind them of the terrible decisions they have made in the past. Remember the Dred Scott Decision? The one that caused the Civil War and the lost of millions of lives.

By TRACIE CONE and BROOKE DONALD

32 mins ago

HOLLISTER, Calif. – The man who opened fire in front of the Pentagon had a history of mental illness and had become so erratic that his parents reached out to local authorities weeks ago and warned them that their son was unstable and might have a gun, authorities said Friday.

It's still unclear why John Patrick Bedell opened fire Thursday at the Pentagon entrance and shot and wounded two police officers before he was fatally shot in an exchange of gunfire. The two officers were hospitalized briefly with minor injuries.

But a blog connected to Bedell via the social networking site LinkedIn outlines his growing distrust of the federal government and gives credence to the idea that a criminal enterprise run out of the government could have staged the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

San Benito County Sheriff Curtis Hill told The Associated Press that Bedell, 36, had been at in-patient mental health institutions at least four times. Court records showed he was diagnosed as bipolar, or manic depressive.

His parents reported him missing on Jan. 4, one day after a Texas Highway Patrol officer stopped him for speeding in Amarillo, according to the missing person's report. Bedell told the highway patrolman he was heading for the East Coast, and the officer used Bedell's phone to call his mother, Kaye Bedell, because he seemed disheveled and out of sorts.

Kaye Bedell told the highway patrol officer in Texas that her son was fine, and the patrolman let him go with a warning. But the next day, Kaye told deputies in California that her son didn't have any reason to travel to the East Coast because he had no friends or family there and she and her husband were worried about his mental state, Hill said.

Hill also said Bedell's parents found an e-mail from their son that indicated he had purchased a gun. They asked Hill to help them find Bedell and get him help.

The 36-year-old Bedell returned to his parent's home on January 18, telling them "not to ask any questions" about where he had been. But he left after that, and his parents didn't know where he had gone.

The family put out a statement Friday saying they were "devastated as a family by the news from yesterday."

"We may never know why he made this terrible decision," it said. "One thing is clear though — his actions were caused by an illness and not a defective character."

Investigators were still trying to determine a motive for the brazen shooting and began trying to unravel a bizarre series of Internet postings that suggested Bedell was fascinated with conspiracy theories, computer programming, libertarian economics and the science of warfare.

Curiously, Bedell also proposed in 2004 that the Pentagon fund his own research on smart weapons. The 28-page proposal outlined his idea for DNA nanotechnology research that might "provide significant new capabilities for the Department of Defense and the individual warfighter."

That document is the first tangible link to surface connecting Bedell and the Pentagon.

On the day of the attack, Bedell left his car — a green, 12-year-old Toyota — in a nearby mall parking garage.

The six-foot tall, blue-eyed software devotee approached the Pentagon entrance Thursday evening wearing a jacket, dress shirt and pants, seeming like any other end-of-the-day commuter.

Law enforcement officials speaking on condition of anonymity described what happened next as a chaotic, fast-paced confrontation in which so many bullets were flying from four different guns that even a day later investigators are still trying to determine exactly whose rounds went where.

Bedell, the officials say, opened fire with a 9 millimeter handgun just five feet from the nearest officer, Marvin Carraway. Fellow officer Jeffrey Amos ran out of a nearby guard booth to confront Bedell, as did a third, unidentified officer. All three officers gave chase and fire at Bedell, who was struck in the head and left arm.

Washoe County Sheriff Mike Haley said Bedell was arrested in Reno on Feb. 1 after a deputy stopped him in a green Toyota sedan on the south end of town and found 2 ounces of marijuana but no weapons.

Haley told reporters in Reno on Friday that Bedell believed "the currency of the United States should be marijuana."

The assault at the very threshold of the Pentagon — the U.S. capital's ground zero on Sept. 11, 2001 — came four months after a deadly attack on the Army's Fort Hood, Texas, post allegedly by a U.S. Army psychiatrist with radical Islamic leanings.

Hatred of the government motivated a man in Texas last month to fly a small plane into a building housing Internal Revenue Service offices, killing an IRS employee and himself.

The shooting resembled one in January in which a gunman walked up to the security entrance of a Las Vegas courthouse and opened fire with a shotgun, killing one officer and wounding another before being gunned down in return fire.

___

Associated Press writers Matt Apuzzo, Devlin Barrett, Eileen Sullivan, Christine Simmons, Pauline Jelinek, Anne Gearan, Mike Gracia, Nafeesa Syeed, Philip Elliott and Kasey Jones contributed to this report from Washington, D.C. Juliana Barbassa and Marcus Wohlsen contributed from San Francisco

LIMON CO (IFS) - Freedom of Choice, Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sarah Palin and the "Others" you are getting exactly what you preach and want - Scorched Earth. If you preach hate and fear enough, it's only a matter of time that you will find someone that's willing to sacrifice him or herself for the "cause". I learned that first hand in Vietnam. And as usual, "if its bleeds - it leads "-- in the news, and we still teach our children that a gun and blood is more respected, than a lovely woman's breast and body.

One year ago, the Homeland Security Report predicated these attacks against the US Government by "educated, financially independent white men" in the matter of several weeks proves that the hate messages are getting through - LOUD and CLEAR.

There are more Timothy McVeigh's out there. They did not all go away. They just went "invisible" working siliencely in the background and just waiting for the optimum time to ponce on a "cause" that will ignite the the spirit of Scorched Earth. I can't have it and neither can you!!
". . .America will NOT be destroyed from the outside, but from the INSIDE. . . by its' own citizens. The outside will just walk in and take what they want without firing one single shot. It will be theirs for the taking."

These groups got lots of money. Lots of money. And a 50 caliber machine gun mounted on the front of a station wagon, and a chance to show that you're a "man" and carry your gun on your hip into the Starbucks and other establishments, which proves what? That you can carry a gun on your person? Hell, it America, every body's got a gun, two or three of them. The only problem is, eventually, you run out of bullets - then what?? You are swallowed up by the masses and your gun taken away and you are stoned on the streets.

So Rush and Glenn's answer is not to be good citizens, but reminds me of the ex-boyfriend who kills his ex-girlfriend, because he does not want anyone else to have her. She's better off dead and then he kills himself.

So the Army of God have in its eye sights everyone, anything, everything that is not like them. Different is Different. Different is not good or bad. It's just different. The fire of hate has been fanned by the flames of Limbaugh, Beck and others, and the only problem is --when they turn and come after you Rush and Glenn, there will be no place to hide, for you have created your own firestorm and has gotten trapped within its walls. Belize really looks good about now. It's time to clear the masses from this country, because it's only going to get uglier if these groups do not stop spreading hate and fear. - KHS
====================================

Repent, Amarillo!
Category: Politics • Religion
Posted on: March 2, 2010 8:53 PM, by PZ Myers

Notice: This site is not designed for non-Christians, It is designed as a recruitment tool to call certain Christians to spiritual warfare, If you are not a Christian and you want to know more about becoming a Christian consider the following Links as resources. While some of them support our efforts, and some may not, it is not about us and it is not about them. It is about Jesus Christ.

Repent Amarillo is a repentance-based ministry dedicated to reaching out to the mission field of 67,000+ people in the Amarillo area who profess no faith in Jesus Christ. It is a ministry committed to the fulfillment of Christ’s commandment of the great commission. As Christians, we cannot stand by and watch 67,000 of our neighbors walking through the gates of hell. To all who have an ear to hear, we must speak out boldly. We must speak the truth. With that in our hearts, herein is our mission statement:

This mission statement is borrowed from a Christian martyr of unknown identity. He was a young African Christian who penned these words in his prison cell before his death. May God bless him for his inspiration.

" I'm part of the fellowship of the unashamed, the die has been cast, I have stepped over the line, the decision has been made- I am a disciple of Jesus Christ- I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be still.

My past is redeemed, my present makes sense, my future is secure- I'm finished and done with low living, sight walking, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, worldly talking, cheap giving, and dwarfed goals.

My face is set, my gait is fast, my goal is heaven, my road is narrow, my way is rough, my companions are few, my guide is reliable, my mission is clear. I won't give up, shut up, let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up for the cause of Jesus Christ.

I must go till He comes, give till I drop, preach till everyone knows, work till He stops me and when He comes for His own, He will have no trouble recognizing me because my banner will have been clear."

Repent Amarillo is comprised of two groups blended together, working together, to compliment and support one another for the purpose of spiritual warfare. They are;

1. Intercessory prayer group. This group will be a group of warriors called to intercessory prayer. They will at times be visible to the public and at other times ( depending upon the individual mission) they will be inconspicuous. They will provide prayer covering to the soldier group and will do battle within the spiritual realm to prepare the ground for the planting of God’s seeds, tear down demonic strongholds, and cast out demonic spirits that harass our efforts. Sometimes the intercessory prayer group will operate independently of the soldier group and at other times will work around them.

2. The Soldier group. The soldier group will consist of warriors dedicated to witnessing to groups of unbelievers or one-on-one witnessing. This group will be more visible to the public and will be comprised of bold believers willing to confront the world. This group will be schooled in the “Way of the Master” method of witnessing to the lost. This group will be the ones who plant God’s seeds in the ground that has been prepared by the intercessory prayer group. Believers who participate in this group will have to be bold but loving. Confrontational but composed. The individual members of these two groups are allowed and highly encouraged to move between the two groups based on the individual’s calling and the unique mission involved. In other words, no one is stuck to only one group. Soldiers can pray and intercessory members can witness.

Or you will be exterminated! You know, Texas has a reputation of being a nasty place full of particularly ignorant rednecks, which I don't blindly agree with — I know too many smart Texans, and it does have many good organizations, like the Texas Freedom Network — but this is a blight that smirches even that already sooty name. I am speaking of a vicious vigilante organization called Repent Amarillo. Look upon that link and quiver with disgust.

It's saturated with military imagery: men in uniform, humvees, helicopters, helmets; they compare themselves to special forces; they call themselves the Army of God, and sport Bible quotes glorifying warfare. They aren't military, but they pretend they are, and bring shame to both our soldiers and their faith. They're actually just cowardly busybodies who snoop and whine at their neighbors, and harass their employers until they get fired. They are not nice people. They're actually some of the worst kind of people.

They are a "rabid group of religious nuts" who object to the usual targets of fundie hatred — gays — but also harrass people who visit sex shops, engage in consensual heterosexual activity outside the bounds of traditional marriage, and…well, here's a list of their targets.

1. Gay pride events.
2. Earth worship events such as "Earth Day"
3. Pro-abortion events or places such as Planned Parenthood
4. Breast cancer events such as "Race for the Cure" to illuminate the link between abortion and breast cancer.
5. Opening day of public schools to reach out to students.
6. Spring break events.
7. Demonically based concerts.
8. Halloween events.
9. Other events that may arise that the ministry feels called to confront.
They also plan to hit:

1. Sexually oriented businesses such as pornography shops, strip joints, and XXX-rated theaters.
2. Idolatry locations such as palm readers, false religions, and witchcraft. Many of the smaller missions listed above may be just prayer oriented missions for tearing down demonic strongholds or they may involve more aggressive use of soldiers and prayer warriors. Some other missions occasionally employed may be "undercover operations" where the groups show up together but are not publicly visible together to effect the outcome of a public meeting such as city commissioners meetings, etc.

Check out their Warfare Map. It includes local Buddhist churches ("False god"), the Islamic center ("Allah is a false god and Muhammad is a false prophet"), the Masonic Lodge ("Masonic rituals and teachings in the upper ranks is based on Egyptian paganism. Full of secrecy. Only evil hides in the dark"), the Universalist Church ("Teaches that everyone is going to heaven. This calls Christ a liar. You cannot be a Christian if you call Christ a liar"), the Unitarian Universalist Church ("Pagan and witchcraft headquarters for Amarillo. Pagan and witchcraft celebrations and rites are performed here"), St Andrew's Episcopal Church ("Referred to an OUTstanding Amarillo's (Homosexual activists) website as a 'gay friendly' church. In other words, they do not tell homosexuals who attend this church that they must repent of the sin of homosexuality. This is a serious violation of scripture"), and Beavers Gentleman Club ("Total nude strip club"), among many others.

"Repent or perish" is their message. They show up dressed in army fatigues, carrying bullhorns, with ghetto blasters blaring Christian music, and they write down license plate numbers and photograph people doing anything they disapprove of. They are our American Mutawwa'in, petty tyrants of propriety with a bloated sense of their own importance. They are our self-righteous wanna-be oppressors.

Keep this in mind. This is the future the Pat Robertsons, the James Dobsons, the Sarah Palins want for us — a kind of Saudi Arabia that differs only in the name we give our prophet.

Meanwhile in Texas: "American Taliban" Isn't Hyperbole Anymore
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Mar 2, 2010 at 1:31 PM

Some very scary shit is going down in Texas. Scarier than usual. "Repent Amarillo" is a rabid group of religious nuts—homegrown religious extremists of the conservative Christian variety—and they're not just going after the gays.

At first, the swinger community was mystified by the attention. On the 60-some hours of surveillance footage the Meads have, a swinger can be heard telling a Repent member that the swingers haven’t done anything to bother them.“You’re going to hell, and it bothers me,” Grisham responds. “What bothers me is you’re going to hell.”

Perhaps the most insidious tactic Repent uses is trying to destroy the reputation of the swingers. In Amarillo, people can be ostracized over a whiff of impropriety. On one tape, Grisham directs followers to get the license-plate numbers in the Route 66 parking lot. “A new couple can be here three or four hours,” says Mac. “Whenever they leave, the Repent Amarillo group will call them by first and last name, know where they live, know where they work, just within a very few hours.”

Randall Sammons says he was fired from his job of 13 years in August after his boss learned Sammons was a swinger from another employee, a Repent member. He believes he’s now as good as blacklisted in Amarillo. “I’m screwed at finding a job,” Sammons says. Russell Grisham, David’s 20-year-old son who has a conviction on his record for hacking the computer system at his high school, has posted the names, photos and workplaces of swingers on the Internet, including one man whose wife works for a school district. (“Family-wise, it will kill both of us,” the man says.) In at least two instances, Repent members called swingers’ employers.

Exclusive: RNC document mocks donors, plays on 'fear' By: Ben Smith March 3, 2010 04:23 PM EST

The Republican National Committee plans to raise money this election cycle through an aggressive campaign capitalizing on “fear” of President Barack Obama and a promise to "save the country from trending toward socialism." The strategy was detailed in a confidential party fundraising presentation, obtained by POLITICO, which also outlines how “ego-driven” wealthy donors can be tapped with offers of access and “tchochkes.” The presentation was delivered by RNC Finance Director Rob Bickhart to top donors and fundraisers at a party retreat in Boca Grande, Florida on February 18, a source at the gathering said. In neat PowerPoint pages, it lifts the curtain on the often-cynical terms of political marketing, displaying an air of disdain for the party’s donors that is usually confined to the barroom conversations of political operatives. The presentation explains the Republican fundraising in simple terms. "What can you sell when you do not have the White House, the House, or the Senate...?" it asks. The answer: "Save the country from trending toward Socialism!” Manipulating donors with crude caricatures and playing on their fears is hardly unique to Republicans or to the RNC – Democrats raised millions off George W. Bush in similar terms – but rarely is it practiced in such cartoonish terms. One page, headed “The Evil Empire,” pictures Obama as the Joker from Batman, while House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leaders Harry Reid are depicted as Cruella DeVille and Scooby Doo, respectively. The document, which two Republican sources said was prepared by the party’s finance staff, comes as Chairman Michael Steele struggles to retain the trust and allegiance of major donors, who can give as much as $30,400 a year to the party. Under Steele, the RNC has shifted toward a reliance on small donors, but the document reveals extensive, confidential details of the strategy for luring wealthy checkwriters, which range from luxury retreats in California wine country to tickets to a professional fight in Las Vegas. The 72-page document was provided to POLITICO by a Democrat, who said a hard copy had been left in the hotel hosting the $2,500-a-head retreat, the Gasparilla Inn & Club. Sources at the event said the presentation was delivered by Bickhart and by the RNC Finance Chairman, Peter Terpeluk, a former ambassador to Luxembourg under President George W. Bush. The RNC reacted with alarm to a question about it Wednesday, emailing major donors to warn them of a reporter’s question, and distancing Steele from its contents. “The document was used for a fundraising presentation Chairman Steele did not attend, nor had he seen the document,” RNC Communications Director Doug Heye said in an email. “Fundraising documents are often controversial. “Obviously, the Chairman disagrees with the language and finds the use of such imagery to be unacceptable. It will not be used by the Republican National Committee – in any capacity – in the future,” Heye said. The most unusual section of the presentation is a set of six slides headed “RNC Marketing 101.” The presentation divides fundraising into two traditional categories, direct marketing and major donors, and lays out the details of how to approach each group. The small donors who are the targets of direct marketing are described under the heading “Visceral Giving.” Their motivations are listed as “fear;” “Extreme negative feelings toward existing Administration;” and “Reactionary.” Major donors, by contrast, are treated in a column headed “Calculated Giving.” Their motivations include: “Peer to Peer Pressure”; “access”; and “Ego-Driven.” The slide also allows that donors may have more honorable motives, including “Patriotic Duty.” A major Republican donor described the state of the RNC’s relationship with major donors as “disastrous,” with veteran givers beginning to abandon the committee, which is becoming increasingly reliant on small donors. The party’s average contribution in 2009, according to the document, was just $40, and the shift toward a financial reliance on the grassroots may help explain Steele’s increasingly strident tone toward the Obama Administration. While the crude portrayal of Obama may be - as Steele ‘s spokesman put it - “unacceptable,” other elements of the presentation may be of equal interest to close political observers. The RNC plans to raise $8.6 million from major donors alone in 2010, less than 10% of its total 2009 fundraising take, which was primarily from small donors." The center of that plan is an extensive, and colorful, schedule of events. Along with traditional fundraisers with conservative luminaries including Weekly Standard Editor Bill Kristol and former presidential candidate Steve Forbes, the party plans to raise $80,000 for a trip to London to meet David Cameron, the British Conservative Party leader, on September 17. The RNC’s “Young Eagles” – younger major donors and the only group, according to a major donor, continuing to pull its weight financially – are invited to a “professional bull riding event” in October, expected to raise $50,000, and to a no-holds-barred Ultimate Fighting Championship fight in Las Vegas the same month, expected to raise $60,000. The RNC’s aim, according to one section of the document: “Putting the Fun Back in FUNdraising.” CORRECTION: The RNC raised a total of $81 million in 2009. An earlier version of this story understated that figure.

http://www.radionomy.com/EN/Cust/ProfileHome.aspx?CntUID=2b2e42e7-a270-4a43-b323-588c194cc815

LIMON CO (IFS) - SmithBit Magazine goes vocal. After years and years of writing about "nothing" and "everything", I get a voice on the web at the address above. It's just to long to memorize, but just copy the thing and put it in your favorites. I don't know what the first thing I will talk about, but I'm sure it will be of some interest to at least one person.

LIMON, CO (IFS) - I have a products bar code. Now What? First you have to get your products registered into the retail system. You can do it right here. Place your products barcode label, your product discription, the manufacturer's name and location, the written barcode number in a #10 envelope with your CHECK IN THE AMOUNT OF $10.00 FOR EACH PRODUCT made payable and MAILED to: Ken Smith, 1880 Circle Lane, Limon, CO 80828-9114. You will receive by return mail a certificate of product registration for each of your products. It's that easy. No fuss and no hassels. Ken Smith's SmithBits Magazine, has been around since 1967, when his journalism professor gave him the column in the college newspaper. Smith has continued the tradition for over 40 years.

In retail, there’s no bigger asset than the products you sell. And for manufacturers and retailers, the increased prevalence and organization of theft and fraud is making it increasingly difficult to protect them. And getting the upper hand on protecting those assets and reducing those losses can make significant difference to your bottom line.

According to the National Retail Federation, losses from retail theft are estimated at more than $30 billion.

Retail theft can be categorized in many ways. It can be as simple as someone pocketing a single product and walking out of the store, to gangs that have become extremely proficient in stealing large quantities of products, to the theft of products that are still in shipment. Often times, these products end up on Internet auction sites where the criminals turn those products into cash. Or the theft can be more “creative,” such as in the case of Claude Allen, former aide to President Bush, who was arrested in 2006 for attempting to “return” more than $5,000 worth of merchandise that he’d taken from the display shelf directly to the returns counter, using receipts from earlier purchases of those items. There are a host of products and technologies that work to prevent, or at least reduce, products from being stolen off the showroom floor. And some loss is inevitable. But there are those significant losses associated with other kinds of theft – theft coming from habitual criminals, as well as normally law-abiding people who think nothing of coming up with creative ways to “bypass the system.” And one thing they all have in common is that they involve the fraudulent return of products to the same or a different store. In fact, The National Retail Foundation reports that fraudulently returned products cost the industry more than $9.6 billion dollars a year.

Obama Surrendering Internet to Foreign Powers

By: Bradley A. Blakeman

Without the ingenuity of America’s brightest minds and the investment of U.S. taxpayer dollars, there would be no Internet, as we now know it today.

Now, the Obama administration has moved quietly to cede control of the Web from the United States to foreign powers.

Some background: The Internet came into being because of the genius work of Americans Dr.Robert E. Kahn and Dr. Vinton G. Cerf. These men, while working for the Department of Defense in the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency in the early 1970s, conceived, designed, and implemented the idea of "open-architecture networking."

This breakthrough in connectivity and networking was the birth of the Internet.

These two gentlemen had the vision and the brainpower to create a worldwide computer Internet communications network that forever changed the world and how we communicate in it.

They discovered that providing a person with a unique identifier (TCP/IP)that was able to be recognized and interact through a network of servers would allow users to communicate with others.

The servers woulduse a series of giant receivers to recognize the identifier and connect networks to networks, passing on information from computer to computer in a seamless real-time exchange of information. This new process of communication became know as the "information super highway," aka, the Internet.

Now for the bad news: In an effort to show the world how inclusive, sharing, cooperative, and international America can be, the Obama administration set off on a plan to surrender control and key management of the Internet by the U.S. Department of Commerce and its agents.

The key to the control America has over the Internet is through the management of the Domain Name System (DNS) and the giant servers that service the Internet.

Domain names are managed through an entity named IANA, the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority. The IANA, which operates on behalf of the U.S. Department of Commerce, is responsible for the global coordination of the DNS, IP addressing, and other Internet protocol resources.

In short, without an IP Address or other essential Internet protocols, a person or entity would not have access to the Internet.

For years, the international community has been pressuring the United States
to surrender its control and management of the Internet. They want an international body such as the United Nations or even the International Telecommunications Union, (an entity that coordinates international telephone communications), to manage all aspects of the Internet in behalf of all nations.

The argument advanced for those seeking international control of the Internet is that the Internet has become such a powerful, pervasive, and a dependent form of international communications, that it would be dangerous and inequitable for any one nation to control and manage it.

Just this past spring, within months of Obama's taking office, his administration, through the Department of Commerce, agreed to relinquish some control over IANA and their governance. The Obama administration has agreed to give greater representation to foreign companies and countries on IANA.

This amounts to one small step for internationalism and one giant leap for surrendering America's control over an invention we have every right and responsibility to control and manage.

It is in America's economic and national security interests not to relinquish any control. We are responsible for the control, operation, and functionality of one of the modern world's greatest inventions and most powerful communications network.

What better country to protect the Internet than the United States?

We invented it, and we paid for the research and implementation that made it
possible. We are the freest, most tolerant nation on earth, we believe in the
fundamental right of free speech, and we practice a free market of commerce and ideas.

America has always been against censorship and has shared its invention with the world without fee or unreasonable or arbitrary restriction. The user fee to operate on the Internet is not one paid to the U.S. government; a consumer pays it to private Internet companies, who provide access to the Internet through servers for their subscribers.

Look no further than China's recent move against Google to censor the
Internet, and you can envision what can happen when other nations less free
than the United States seek to control the Internet beyond even their own borders.

America needs to wake up. If we lose control over the management of the
Internet, we have given away one of our nation's greatest assets with nothing
in return to show for it.

The Obama administration's actions will set in motion a slow and complete takeover of the Internet by the United Nations or some other equally U.S.-hostile and unfriendly international body. And once it is gone, it will be gone forever.

The surrender of the Internet will spell disaster for our nation, financially, as well as for safety, security and our standing as a great power that values freedom and the free exchange of ideas and information.

As far as I am concerned, America is still the last best hope for a more
peaceful and prosperous world and our president should not be looking for
ways to weaken us. Rather, his job is to work to strengthen us and protect our nation's greatest asset our people's creativity and ingenuity.


Bradley A. Blakeman, who was a deputy assistant to President George W. Bush from 2001-2004, teaches public policy and politics and international affairs at Georgetown University.

Newsmax.com


Breaking from Newsmax.com
Hillary Clinton Says She Won't Serve Eight Years

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has said she would not serve a full eight years if President Barack Obama wins another term, hoping eventually to retire to writing and teaching.

Clinton, who has spent two decades in the national spotlight and narrowly lost her own bid to be president in 2008, said she enjoyed her job as the top US diplomat but found it physically grueling.

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Asked by talk-show host Tavis Smiley if she would serve eight years, she replied: "No, I really can't."

"The whole eight -- that would be very challenging," she said in the interview broadcast Wednesday on public television.

"It's a 24-7 job and I think at some point, I will be very happy to pass it on to someone else," Clinton said.

Clinton repeated that she would not run again for president, saying she wanted a private life after a career in which she has served as first lady and a US senator.

"There are so many things I'm interested in, really going back to private life and spending time reading and writing and maybe teaching. Maybe some personal travel -- not the kind of travel where you bring a couple of hundred people with you," she said.

Clinton said she also hoped throughout her life to be a strong advocate for the rights of women and girls.

Clinton, who has often faced critical media coverage, said that she found it "a joy" to work with reporters covering the State Department.

"They are very substantive. They live and breathe the difficult issues that we cope with every day," she said.

She said she learned long ago to take press coverage "seriously but not personally" -- but acknowledged her concerns during her campaign to be the first female president.

"What I was not prepared for was a lot of the criticism that I thought had less to do with me and more to do with attitudes about women," she said.

"That was surprising to me -- it was 2007 and 2008. But that's something we still have to work on in this country."

Secretaries of state in recent times have rarely served more than one presidential term, although George Shultz was in office for six and a half years under Ronald Reagan.

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