NIGHT CHICKEN

Hurry hurry pass stimulus, cap and trade and health care reform - with mere hours to consider. More troops for your own general to prosecute your own new strategy in Afghanistan? We need to think about this. V-e-r-y slowly.

On March 27, 2009, President Obama announced his own new comprehensive strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan:

Today, I'm announcing a comprehensive, new strategy for Afghanistan and Pakistan.   And this marks the conclusion of a careful policy review, led by Bruce, that I ordered as soon as I took office.  My administration has heard from our military commanders, as well as our diplomats.  We've consulted with the Afghan and Pakistani governments, with our partners and our NATO allies, and with other donors and international organizations.  We've also worked closely with members of Congress here at home. And now I’d like to speak clearly and candidly to the American people.

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For three years, our commanders have been clear about the resources they need for training.  And those resources have been denied because of the war in Iraq.  Now, that will change. 

link to speech

President Obama installed a new commander of his own choosing, General Stanley McChrystal, who on September 25, 2009, delivered to the Chairman Joint Chief's of Staff a request for 40,000 additional troops.  That was two months ago.

The British Defense Secretary is now openly criticising President Obama's delay.

Telegraph.co.uk

November 25, 2009

Bob Ainsworth Criticises Barack Obama over Afghanistan

Mr Ainsworth took the unprecedented step of publicly criticising the US President and his delays in sending more troops to bolster the mission against the Taliban.

A “period of hiatus” in Washington - and a lack of clear direction - had made it harder for ministers to persuade the British public to go on backing the Afghan mission in the face of a rising death toll, he said.

Senior British Government sources have become increasingly frustrated with Mr Obama’s “dithering” on Afghanistan, the Daily Telegraph disclosed earlier this month, with several former British defence chiefs echoing the concerns.

But Mr Ainsworth is the first Government minister to express in public what amounts to personal criticism of the US president’s leadership over the conflict which has so far cost 235 British lives.

link to story

No one saw this coming

Associated Press

November 22, 2009

Lawyer: 9/11 defendants want platform for views

NEW YORK (AP) - The five men facing trial in the Sept. 11 attacks will plead not guilty so that they can air their criticisms of U.S. foreign policy, the lawyer for one of the defendants said Sunday.

Scott Fenstermaker, the lawyer for accused terrorist Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali, said the men would not deny their role in the 2001 attacks but "would explain what happened and why they did it."

The U.S. Justice Department announced earlier this month that Ali and four other men accused of murdering nearly 3,000 people in the deadliest terrorist attack in the U.S. will face a civilian federal trial just blocks from the site of the destroyed World Trade Center.

Ali, also known as Ammar al-Baluchi, is a nephew of professed 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.

Mohammed, Ali and the others will explain "their assessment of American foreign policy," Fenstermaker said.

"Their assessment is negative," he said.

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Last week, the Senate JudicLiary Committee questioned Holder for hours about his decision to send the five 9/11 suspects to New York for trial.

Critics of Holder's decision - mostly Republicans - argued the trial will give Mohammed and his co-defendants a world stage to spout hateful rhetoric. Holder said such concerns are misplaced, and any pronouncements by the suspects would only make them look worse.

link to story

Health Care Monstrosity Moves Forward In Senate

Look how the first paragraph in the below AP story characterizes the Democrat and Republican sides in this party line dispute:

"Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle"

"Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama"

Like the Republican opposition was really all about inflicting damage on President Obama.  Then in the next paragraph:

The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

They left off the part about how it is also designed to drive out private health insurance, thus resulting in a costly, inefficient single payer government run system.

Associated Press

November 21, 2009

Historic health care bill clears Senate hurdle

WASHINGTON – Invoking the name of Edward M. Kennedy, Democrats united Saturday night to push historic health care legislation past a key Senate hurdle over the opposition of Republicans eager to inflict a punishing defeat on President Barack Obama. There was not a vote to spare.

The 60-39 vote cleared the way for a bruising, full-scale debate beginning after Thanksgiving on the legislation, which is designed to extend coverage to roughly 31 million who lack it, crack down on insurance company practices that deny or dilute benefits and curtail the growth of spending on medical care nationally.

link to story

Does anyone believe that the Fort Hood massacre was not a terrrorist act?

The Obama administration has dodged a bullet with no hard questioning over the relationship between his preferred path in dealing with the war on terror and what is essentially the first radical Islamist attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.  Would people feel more comfortable calling it a terrorist attack if Major Hasan had carried out such carnage at a U.S. military base after deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan?

ABC News

November 19, 2009

Major Hasan's E-Mail: 'I Can't Wait to Join You' in Afterlife

United States Army Major Nidal Hasan told a radical cleric considered by authorities to be an al-Qaeda recruiter, "I can't wait to join you" in the afterlife, according to an American official with top secret access to 18 e-mails exchanged between Hasan and the cleric, Anwar al Awlaki over a six month period between Dec. 2008 and June 2009.

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Other messages include questions, the official with access to the e-mails said, that include when is jihadappropriate, and whether it is permissible if there are innocents killed in a suicide attack.

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A blog entry posted on Awlaki's site after the Fort Hood massacre praised Hasan as a "hero" and a "man of conscience who could not bear living the contradiction of being a Muslim and serving in an army that is fighting against his own people." The site has since been taken down, as has a Facebook fan page devoted to Awlaki. In a subsequent interview with the Washington Post, Awlaki described himself as Hasan's "confidant."

link to story

Union considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing boy scout to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at a park

Organized crime never had it so good. 

The Morning Call

November 15, 2009

Union troubled by Eagle Scout project in Allentown

In pursuit of an Eagle Scout badge, Kevin Anderson, 17, has toiled for more than 200 hours hours over several weeks to clear a walking path in an east Allentown park.

Little did the do-gooder know that his altruistic act would put him in the cross hairs of the city's largest municipal union.

Nick Balzano, president of the local Service Employees International Union, told Allentown City Council Tuesday that the union is considering filing a grievance against the city for allowing Anderson to clear a 1,000-foot walking and biking path at Kimmets Lock Park.

"We'll be looking into the Cub Scout or Boy Scout who did the trails," Balzano told the council.

Balzano said Saturday he isn't targeting Boy Scouts. But given the city's decision in July to lay off 39 SEIU members, Balzano said "there's to be no volunteers." No one except union members may pick up a hoe or shovel, plant a flower or clear a walking path.

link to story

Is America at war, or not?

World Net Daily - Opinion

Pat Buchanan

November 16, 2009

Are we at war – or not?

For if we are at war, why is Khalid Sheikh Mohammed headed for trial in federal court in the Southern District of New York? Why is he entitled to a presumption of innocence and all of the constitutional protections of a U.S. citizen?

Is it possible we have done an injustice to this man by keeping him locked up all these years without trial? For that is what this trial implies – that he may not be guilty.

And if we must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that KSM was complicit in mass murder, by what right do we send Predators and Special Forces to kill his al-Qaida comrades wherever we find them? For none of them has been granted a fair trial.

When the Justice Department sets up a task force to wage war on a crime organization like the Mafia or MS-13, no U.S. official has a right to shoot Mafia or gang members on sight. No one has a right to bomb their homes. No one has a right to regard the possible death of their wives and children in an attack as acceptable collateral damage.

Yet that is what we do to al-Qaida, to which KSM belongs. 

link to story

First it was King Abdullah now Emperor Akihito

HR 3962 -- The penalty provisions

Americans who do not maintain “acceptable health insurance coverage” and who choose not to pay the bill’s new individual mandate tax (generally 2.5% of income), are subject to numerous civil and criminal penalties, including criminal fines of up to $250,000 and imprisonment of up to five years.  According to the Joint Committee on Taxation, HR 3962 has the following provisions:

Download the letter below.

“H.R. 3962 provides that an individual (or a husband and wife in the case of a joint return) who does not, at any time during the taxable year, maintain acceptable health insurance coverage for himself or herself and each of his or her qualifying children is subject to an additional tax.” [Page 1]

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“If the government determines that the taxpayer’s unpaid tax liability results from willful behavior, the following penalties could apply…” [Page 2]

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Criminal penalties

Prosecution is authorized under the Code for a variety of offenses.  Depending on the level of the noncompliance, the following penalties could apply to an individual:

• Section 7203 – misdemeanor willful failure to pay is punishable by a fine of up to $25,000 and/or imprisonment of up to one year.

• Section 7201 – felony willful evasion is punishable by a fine of up to $250,000 and/or imprisonment of up to five years.” [page 3]

Download JCT Letter 11-5-09

Also, according to the Congressional Budget Office, in 2015 the cheapest health care policy may cost $15,000.00.

Download CBO HR 3962 insurance costs

So under what circumstances is it preferable to offer vaccines to those in other countries when we can't meet our own demand?

The Associated Press is reporting that some Wall Street companies are getting Swine Flu vaccinations which is causing a backlash over wealth favoritism and triggered comments by our elected representatives.  Remember, President Obama has declared the Swine Flu a National Emergency.

Associated Press

November 5, 2009

Goldman Sachs, Citigroup got swine flu vaccine

Some of New York's biggest companies, including Wall Street giants Goldman Sachs and Citigroup, received doses of swine flu vaccine for at-risk employees, drawing criticism that the hard-to-find vaccine is going first to the privileged.

Hospitals, universities and the Federal Reserve Bank also got doses of the vaccine for employees who need it the most, such as pregnant women or chronically ill workers, according to the city's health department.

In order to receive the vaccine, companies had to have their own medical staff. Distributing large doses of the vaccine to such businesses is "a great avenue for vaccinating people at risk," said Jessica Scaperotti, spokeswoman for the city Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

But critics said Wall Street firms should not have access to the vaccine before less wealthy Americans.

"Vaccines should go to people who need them most, not people who happen to work on Wall Street," Democratic Sen. Chris Dodd of Connecticut said Thursday.

link to story

But even though demand for the vaccine has not been met and production is well behind demand, the US is providing 10% of its vaccine purchases to other nations.

Backlash?  Anyone?

CNS News

October 26, 2009

Sebelius Says U.S. Will Donate Part of H1N1 Vaccine Supply to Foreign Nations Before Meeting This Nation’s Demand

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius told CNSNews.com Wednesday that one in 10 doses of the swine-flu vaccine purchased by the U.S. will be donated to other nations before the U.S. demand for the vaccine is filled.

Sebelius also told a Senate committee that vaccine production is well behind demand.

link to story

President Obama's remarks about the murderous rampage at Fort Hood

When the press conference commenced (CNN and Fox billed it as Obama's remarks on the shooting), the death toll was reported to be 12 with 31 wounded.  It's nice to see the President's priorities in addressing the nation after such a murderous rampage. Look how much hot air was expelled before he even mentioned it.

Do you think it would have taken him so long to get around to mentioning it if the massacre had taken place at an abortion clinic or SEIU rally?

President Obama's address to the nation on the heels of the mass murder at Fort Hood on Novmber 5, 2009

Please everybody have a seat. Uh, let let me first of all just thank Ken uh and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference.  Uh I want to thank my cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today.

Uh I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner.  Good to see you. 

Uh, my understanding is that uh you had uh an extremely productive conference.  Uh I want to thank all of you for coming and for your efforts.  Uh and I want to give you my solemn guarantee that this is not the end of a process but the beginning of a process and that we are going to follow up.  We we are going to follow up.  Every single member of my team understands that this is a top priority for us.

Uh I I want you to know that as I said this morning, uh this is not something we just give lip service to uh and we are going to keep working with you to make sure that uh the first Americans get uh the best possible chances in life uh in a way that is consistent with your extraordinary traditions and culture and values.

Now, I have to say though that uh beyond that, uh I planned to make some broader remarks uh about the challenges that lay ahead uh for Native Americans as well as collaboration with our administration uh but as some of you might have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army Base in Texas. ...