TSA Tyranny Causes Diplomatic Incidents With India

The US government, and especially the TSA, have got to stop being so paranoid. The TSA tried to force an Indian UN envoy to let them search his turban.

In another incident another representative of India was subjected to a random pat down simply because she was wearing a sari.

Airport security has got to be more relaxed.

Iranian Dissident Set To Be Executed!!

Right now in Iran a man named Habbibolah Latifi, 29, a Kurdish activist, is on the verge of being executed. He seem to be scheduled to be executed on December 26.

In order to make this act as difficult for the Iranian authorities as possible I would encourage you to sign this petition, We want freedom for habib latifi at (http://www.gopetition.com/petition/40470/sign.html). You can sign anonymously.

Perhaps it is too late already, but it would be good to know that we tried to make this as difficult for the Iranian authorities as possible. This is a cause worth raising our voices for.

Russia Becoming Totalitarian?

Here's a very sad story from the New York Times detailing how one opposition party was handicapped by local authorities.

This reminds me of how I read of how Yuli Martov, a prominent leader of the Mensheviks, used to be shouted down by Bolshevik operatives during governmental meetings during that brief time when rival parties were (just barely) tolerated by the Soviet government after that most infamous coup of November 1917.

Another Shocking Expose of the TSA's Enhanced Pat Down Terror

Another shocking article exposing the viciousness of the TSA's wicked enhanced pat down terror regime. The TSA lied to "don't touch my junk" guy & you should understand your rights at airport security.

Noteworthy is his comments on how the TSA are deceptively hiding these new useless, vicious, cruel and disgusting rules and are not informing people of what they are now going to be exposed to under this tyrannical regime.

In all of the various experiences I've read about (and there are many), a common theme I have seen is that no one has reported seeing any signage at any airport about the new procedures one will be subjected to at that airport as a requirement of getting on the airplane. Not only are there no reports of such signage, there are many, MANY reports that specifically say they haven't seen any information at all at airports on the new scanner or patdown procedures.

There are signs about putting one's liquids in a ziploc baggie, hell I recall recently even still seeing signs about how you don't have to put unexposed camera film through the x-ray machines. I find this terribly amusing since I honestly can't remember the last time I used an actual "film" camera instead of a digital one.

But, there are no signs that outline what you are now subjecting yourself to in this new era of Scope-n-Grope, or what you rights are in regards to these procedures.

I agree with this opinion presented in thisABC News story:

"To the flying public, I would say they are trading away their privacy for the illusion of security,"

Look at this AP article:

At least one pilots union, the U.S. Airline Pilots Association, has issued new instructions to members to call in sick and not board flights if, after a pat-down, they are too upset to fly.

I repeat: This is INSANE!!!

Recently Keith Olbermann delivered this inspiring special comment quite relevant to this unbelievable invasion of people's liberty, Ted Koppel And The Real Death Of "Real News" explaining that the greatest and most highly renowned moments of journalism were not journalists "objectively" explaining every point of the situation but journalists making a stand and saying what they believed in. It is time for everyone, yes, everyone, to make their voices heard and call for the immediate end of this TSA Enhanced Pat Down Terror.

As far as I am concerned this must stop. Now. We must not wait.

We must not allow the TSA to imagine that this is normal.

We must not allow the TSA to image that they can get away with this.

The TSA are destroying and violating the liberty of their paymasters, the US taxpayers, you.

The long suffering American people do not deserve this.

Imagine if the British soldiers before 1776 were able to treat the American people like this. Do you think the Founders would have allowed this to happen to them? Why should we?

Israel does not do this. So why should the US?

They don't even have those full body scanners. See this: Full-body scanners are waste of money, Israeli expert says.

Because of this I will never go through a US airport because of the Enhanced Pat Down Terror.

At least when Al Qeada strikes we can trust that governmental authorities will do everything in their power to bring them to justice and to stop such things. But now it is the taxpayer funded TSA that are subjecting the long suffering American people to this tyranny of degradation. Will the state save us from this tyranny.

This TSA Enhanced Pat Down Terror is heart breaking.

This is the point where we are being robbed of liberty under the false guise of gaining security.

Your voice matters. Speak out! Stand up! Resist this pat down tyranny!

The pat down terror must end now!

Don't Opt Out!!!; Drudge on TSA's Pat Down Terror

Don't Opt Out 11/24!!!

Congratulations to the Drudge Report for bringing attention to these monstrous abuses of power that have been allowed to occur due to the TSA's vicious new policy of so called enhanced pat downs (even though one of the links goes to a conspiracy theorist website). Here are some of the stories being highlighted there about this violation against human dignity.

TSA Chief Defends New Patdown Procedure

Airport body scans, pat-downs draw more complaints

TSA pats down a screaming toddler

I would like to bring to your attention to this comment from the last story:

Our security theater gets yet more elaborate. This is not how Israel does it, and if anyone knows how to avoid a real terrorist attack, it is they.

Our TSA seems to be a full-employment program for the terminally incompetent rather than a strategic program to protect us from attack.

I'm sorry, John Pistole, head of the TSA, if even Israel doesn't think this is necessary, then it is not.

I will never go into a US airport while this TSA terror policy is in force.

These useless enhanced pat downs must stop immediately!

Down With The Useless "Enhanced Pat Downs"

Don't Opt Out 11/24!!!

(Important note: Because of these abominable enhanced pat downs I cannot and will not encourage people to "opt out" of full body scanning as has been encouraged by some protesters.)

I am sorry to say this, but I will never go through a US airport. I have decided I am not going to go through a US airport so long as these useless "enhanced pat downs" are enforced. Therefore I simply will not go.

I encourage any reader who is able to also not go through a US airport to avoid these abominable "enhanced pat downs".

I really hope this outrageous and useless intrusion into people's bodily privacy will be removed one day. I have no doubt that when this is removed we will look back on this as a dreadful mistake that unnecessarily hurt countless innocent passengers.

Some people such as WeWon'tFly.com have spoken out against this outrage against the US public and against all the travelers who are compelled to undergo these outrages.

WARNING: Enhanced Pat Down

Be aware that the TSA is using what they call an “enhanced pat down” in many instances. These pat downs are much more rigorous and often include the TSA using their palms to touch your genitals in a manner that could feel like sexual assault. If you feel that you or your child were inappropriately touched during the enhanced pat down, call for a law enforcement officer.

This is a travesty.

I agree with how The Drudge Report declared this: The Terrorists have won.

The Enhanced Pat Downs need to be abolished immediately.

I encourage any reader to speak out, in their own way, against this travesty.

Here are some suggestions from WeWon'tFly.com.

1. P
2. Stop flying.
3. O
4. Educate yourself, your family, friends and neighbors.
5. O
6. Create a video saying why you won’t fly. And send us a link!
7. Protest to the airlines.
8. Make a fuss to the hotels.
9. Complain to the government.
10. Report your experience to EPIC.
11. File a complaint with the ACLU.
12. File a TSA Civil Rights complaint.
13. File an online TSA complaint.
14. Tell We Won’t Fly your TSA story.
15. Tweet your feelings with hashtag #wontfly
16. Like our Facebook page.
17. Connect with us on Twitter.
18. Post to Facebook.
19. Blog or make a video about your feelings and experiences.
20. Ask local media to cover this story.
21. Got more ideas? Share them!

Please note: because of the enhanced pat downs I cannot and will not encourage you to opt out of the full body scanners as this website encourages. My main priority is over the enhanced pat downs.

This has to stop.

Greetings!

Hope everyone's having a good day.

Murder By Asbestos

Just read this shocking story about asbestos still being used and promoted even though we all know it is deadly.

I refuse to mince words here. That is murder.

A Sad Story from Sweden

According to this Sweden is starting to deport Iraqis but are targeting Assyrian Christian refugees.

Will the Leftists Report This?

Will the leftists report on this? Evangelicals: Obama Not a Muslim.

There has been this strange idea pushed around by Obama's opponents that Obama is/was a Muslim. It's as illogical and baseless as the conspiracy theories that insist the Moon landings were a hoax.

Hence, understandably, there has been a lot of discussion among the Left about this strange idea and is often presented as evidence that the American Right has, essentially, gone crazy.

I wonder how many of those who report on those who spread this baseless accusation will comment that many on the Right are not caught up in that false idea.

Thoughts On the Tides Foundation

Recently Byron Williams has been arrested. He was targeting the ACLU and the Tides Foundation. The Left have focused on how Glenn Beck has recently focused upon this organization. See TPM and Media Matters.

I first heard about this organization from David Horowitz's DiscoverThe Networks. Here is their profile of Tides. I first heard about them around 2007. They said that the Tides Foundation was the second greatest foundation funder of the Left, behind the Ford Foundation. Similar to Glenn Beck today they asserted that the Tides Foundation is quite powerful.

Today I would be quite skeptical of these assertions. Discover The Networks very often likes to associate the modern day Left with Communism. That rhetorical tactic is vastly overdone there.

I Love This Story

A rather amusing and highly unlikely story. Absolutely brilliant.

Wise Words

"The true danger in politics is when people in power elevate ideological purity over their basic humanity, empathy, and common sense. This danger is as present on the Left as it is on the Right. From Stalin to Hitler, from Pol Pot to Pinochet, from the Crusades to the terrorist attacks on 9/11, by far the greatest evils perpetrated by persons in power are done out of rigid and passionate commitment to ideology. The brutal human consequences of that ideology are ignored or justified as subservient to the perceived greater good of whatever Utopian ideal happens to be in vogue." (Source.)

Paul Krugman on the Myths of Austerity

Myths of austerity.

Right Wing British Newspapers Falling Short

Here are some examples the right wing British media spreading badly formed stories that spread throughout the right wing circles. They may be seen here, here, here, here, here, here.

Out Of Control Media

Looking back on the Michael Jackson trial, I see a media out of control. The sheer amount of propaganda, bias, distortion and misinformation is almost beyond comprehension. Reading the court transcripts and comparing them to the newspaper cuttings, the trial that was relayed to us didn't even resemble the trial that was going on inside the courtroom. The transcripts show an endless parade of seedy prosecution witnesses perjuring themselves on an almost hourly basis and crumbling under cross examination. The newspaper cuttings and the TV news clips detail day after day of heinous accusations and lurid innuendo.

Here's the whole article by Charles Thomson. A fascinating article discussing how the news media completely botched their coverage of the Michael Jackson trial. The salacious accusations were spread all over the world, while the evidence that discredited the accusers was simply ignored.

The legal system may have declared him innocent but the public, on the whole, still thought otherwise. Allegations which were disproven in court went unchallenged in the press. Shaky testimony was presented as fact. The defense's case was all but ignored.

Warning: discusses the various allegations made against Michael Jackson.

Matt Taibbi on Goldman Sachs: The Great Bubble Machine

Here's Matt Taibbi's famous article for Rolling Stone, The Great American Bubble Machine which critiques Goldman Sachs' role within several previous financial bubbles, namely the Great Depression (1929), the Internet bubble (2000), the Housing bubble (2007), the oil bubble, and the Great Financial Crisis (2008).

Remember those horrible days not too long ago when oil became ridiculously expensive? And then it fell down. Well, according to Mr. Taibbi, that had nothing to do with supply and demand but was solely driven by financial speculation.

Peace Flotilla Horror

I've just heard that this Peace flotilla had been intercepted by Israeli forces.

At least ten people on this flotilla have been killed.

I am stunned and horrified by these awful news.

I hope that there will be a full and honest investigation about what went so terribly wrong here.

Wall Street's View of the Bailout?

The New York magazine has released this fascinating article about President Obama and his relations with Wall Street while trying to enact reform.

I found this rather enlightening on part 5.

Another, not inconsistent, theory is that the money changers aren’t merely forgetful but mildly deluded. “They’ve created a narrative where irrational actions by a few people plus the nature of government intervention forced them to do things inconsistent with their free-market philosophy and regular way of handling their business,” offers a Democratic financier. “So, yes, they took the TARP money, but only because they had to. None of them are sitting there saying to themselves, ‘You know, I was responsible for this crisis. Therefore, I’m really grateful to the government that it stepped in.’ This is not the narrative they have in their heads.”

But one of the city’s most successful hedge-fund hotshots offers a different surmise: “The majority of Wall Street thinks, ‘Hey, you lent us money. We did a trade. We paid you back. When you had me down, you could have crushed me, you could have done whatever you wanted. You didn’t do it! So stop your bitching and stop telling me I owe you, because I already paid you everything! The fact that I’m making money now is because I’m smarter than you!’ I think that’s where you’ve got this massive disconnect. In simple human terms, the government is saying, ‘I saved your life, and all you did was thank me once. You should be calling me every day: Thank you. Thank you.’ The guy who saved the life expects more. And the guy whose life is saved says, ‘I already thanked you!’ ”

The New York Times' Litany of Failures

I do not understand why people call the New York Times the 'newspaper of record', as though they're somehow better than other newspapers.

They don't act like it.

Recently they accused Richard Blumenthal of repeatedly lying about his military service.

It made particular reference to one speech he gave in 2008 where it appeared that he stated he had served in Vietnam.

Maureen Dowd provided a column slamming him for it.

Slate magazine provided this list of nine comments by their writers slamming Blumenthal for this.

They also unleashed this article, which at first glance seems to be about a Vietnam War memorial in New York, but it's actually a polemic against Mr. Blumenthal. I can't quite get over this one.

Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general and embattled Democratic candidate for senator, has probably already made plans for the Memorial Day weekend. He’s got a lot of campaigning to do, and some explaining, too.

But if he can find time, he may want to drive down to New York and visit the Vietnam Veterans Memorial on Water Street in the financial district. There, he could learn a thing or two about that war from men who actually fought it — unlike Mr. Blumenthal, who has on occasion claimed to have been there, though the closest he may have gotten to a Vietnam experience is at Saigon Kitchen in Hartford. ...

I was a Vietnam-era soldier. But a Vietnam veteran? It never occurred to me to call myself that. Those are not misplaced words. They are a lie.

There's a lot more in there, but that should be enough to get a flavor of what is said.

Turns out actually Blumenthal was quite open about what he actually did during those days. He had earlier stated accurately in his 2008 speech that he did serve in the Vietnam era. Most local Connecticut reporters say he did not hide the facts of his military service.

Apparently this information was provided by the opposing campaign.

Clearly there are a lot of problems with how the New York Times dealt with this story as this Guardian article put it:

So by the weekend, when Blumenthal received the endorsement of Connecticut Democrats, three major problems had arisen in the Times's reporting:

• The Times had failed to reveal that Blumenthal, in the 2008 speech that was at the centre of its story, had accurately described his military service just minutes before saying he had served "in" Vietnam.

• An important source in that initial report, Jean Risley, who chairs the Connecticut Vietnam Veterans Memorial, said she had been misquoted.

• The little detail about Blumenthal's having lied about being on the Harvard swim team turns out to be almost certainly wrong.

Thankfully the Daily Howler provides us with this helpful reminder of all the times the New York Times has messed up in recent years. Whitewater, slamming Al Gore in 2000, accusing John McCain of having an affair on very weak evidence, Judith Miller. And how some people still seem to uncritically accept what they say.

Why do people give this paper some sort of creditability as though they are better than any other media source by calling them the 'newspaper of record' when all these things happen? I don't get it.

They certainly did not act like a newspaper of record in those instances. Why give them that honor?

(Thanks to the Guardian article for providing 'litany' for my title.)

Why BP Is Not Measuring the Extent of the Oil Leak?

Could it be to lower costs in any future court cases?

NYT Fail

It appears to me that the New York Times messed up on their story concerning Blumenthal. See here.

The Unconventional Mayor of Bogota

This looks interesting.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/4891823/Bogota-Mayor-Antanas-Mockus-turned-city-into-a-social-experiment

US Corporations Dodge $60 Billion in Taxes

Here's how it all happens.

A Day Wasted Because of Wrong Diagram

BP had wrong diagram for the blowout preventer.

Dick Cheney's Possible Role in the BP Oil Spill Catastrophe

(Source.)

"While the Right furiously tries to pin the Gulf Oil Spill on President Obama, the facts tell a different story. This is the story of rampant deregulation in a never-ending ode to Profit as King, as propagated by the Bush/Cheney administration across all sectors of our economy, which didn’t end with Wall Street or mortgage lending or Enron. Indeed, the deregulation scandals extend now to off-shore drilling in the form of the missing Valve, a remote shut-off device called an acoustic switch. Dick Cheney, former CEO of Halliburton (an oil-services company), may have had his hand in the Department of Interior’s decision not to mandate the valve for off-shore oil rigs.

"ValveGate is coming to a theater near you."

News Corp. Hide Website Stats Before The Paywall Comes

See http://paidcontent.co.uk/article/419-before-the-paywall-murdoch-stops-disclosing-uk-news-site-traffic/.

Hat tip to here.

Bill O'Reilly Interviews Jon Stewart

This may be seen here.

Eric Prince of Blackwater Speaks

Some words of his may be seen here.

What Goldman Sachs (Alledgedly) Did

This cartoon seems to well describe what Goldman Sachs alledgedly did and why Goldamn Sachs is now under investigation by the SEC.

On The Disfunctional Nature of Wall Street

See here.

On Why Some Sadly Are Left Uninsured

Just saw this from NewsReal Blog.

1. There will still be millions of uninsured!

Fact on Health care Plan: The CBO looked at this health care bill extensively and estimated that by 2019 there would still be 22 million Americans left uninsured.

Yep, you heard me right. The Democrats have been selling this plan as a way to ensure “every American” has health care. It’s all a lie. They knew the CBO numbers and tried to keep it a secret. There may be less uninsured then there otherwise would have been (thanks to massive taxing and spending), but there will still be 22 million Americans left uninsured by 2019.

As President Obama said, “This is what change looks like.” Thanks for showing it to us. We don’t want it. And come November, America will tell Obama and the Democrats exactly what they thought about this change.

The right wing opposition did that. They kicked up a huge fuss over health care reform and caused reform to be diluted. That is a major reason why this has happened.

The dream is to have every American insured. But opposition and inertia has caused this dream to be delayed.

And for the other reasons: health care has not been taken over by the government, it is just regulated more, as far as I can see.

"Quality of Health Care will quickly begin to plummet for all of us."

No. There is a lot of waste caused by the way the private system was set up. (That's why reform was needed.) In fact the US public are spending enough to create universal health care already. But it is used for administrative costs instead.

Also I gravely doubt that Federal authorities will fund abortions under health care reform. Senator Stupak nearly killed the bill over it, so I find it very hard to believe that the US Federal government will ignore that as stated in this blog.

-----------------

Also this same author has a little blog about what's been happening in Morocco. I find that situation very sad to hear.

I do not necessarily agree with everything said there.

History Is Written By the ...Losers?

See here.

Senseless Rabid Anger At President Obama

See here.

Review of Constroversal Golman Sachs Pitch Book

Here's a review of the controversial Goldman Sachs pitch book for the CBO over which Goldman Sachs has been accused of fraud by the SEC.

SEC's Fraud Accusation Against Goldman Sachs

You can read the SEC allegation here.

It's filled with jargon but essentially, the story goes, Goldman Sachs a) sold a CBO to two European banks, b) without telling them that the investments which the CBO contained were selected by a hedge fund which c) would be paid out by insurance money (credit default swap) should that CBO fail.

A large part of the case revolves around this pitch book concerning the alleged fraudulent investment.

What the Goldman Sachs Fraud Investigation Means To Us

Here's a very good analysis of the Goldman Sachs investigation into alleged fraud.

Bill O'Reilly Gets Malmady Massacre All Wrong Twice, and Fox News Tries to Hides It

I know this is a old (2006) but it needs to be shown again.

Keith Olbermann calls Bill O'Reilly out for getting the facts concerning the Malmedy massacre completely backwards and twice (not once, twice) stated with misplaced certainty that Americans had massacred Germans soldiers at Malmedy. (It was the other way around, the Germans massacred 84 American soldiers who had earlier surrendered.)

And then Fox News alters a transcript effectively hiding the second stuff up by Bill O'Reilly. How are we supposed to even trust their transcripts?

O'Keefe/Giles Tapes On ACORN Proven to be Highly Misleading

See here.

Fox News Uses Rumor From Anti-Semitic Website Against President Obama

See here.

Note: this article discusses a website (the anti-semitic one) which is plagued with spyware.

Obama Did Not Support After Birth Abortion

I wish I read this earlier.

15. Falsehood: Obama opposed protecting "babies that survived late-term abortions"

During the election I read that Obama supported the killing off of aborted babies that had been taken out of the womb because he voted against an Admentment to this act. He did vote against because he believed existing laws already prevented that. And the charge which prompted the introduction of that bill could not be substantiated.

To say Senator Obama thought the supposed incident was a) permissible and b) something that he supported and c) hoped to bring into law is absurd.

Maddow's CPAC Encounters

Here's Rachel Maddow looking at CPAC conference. [Note: there will be an ad before the video starts.] It's a fascinating report. She mentions some intriguing organizations.

She signs a Sarah Palin poster at a booth for Town Hall magazine, which is a part of TownHall.com.

Media Research Center

Keep America Safe (Update: Dead link.)

The Tyranny of Liberalism

A Consumer's Guide to the Apocalypse

To Change the Heart of Man

Tradition, Family and Property

American Petroleum Institute

Liberty Central

Young America's Foundation

Oath Keepers

Free State Project

Human Events magazine

The Biggest Jerk in Congress

The O'Leary Report

Bush Beats Obama

ArroganceInOffice.com

Grandma's Not Shovel Ready published by Let Freedom Reign.

Nuclear Arms Treaty and Fox News' Misreporting of It

See here.

Wohlstetter-Wolfowitz-Libby's Pre-Emptive Strike Doctrine

Fascinating article which traces the development of neo-conservative doctrine of pre-emptive strike from Albert Wohlstetter to Paul Wolfowitz to Scooter Libby.

The apprentice: Scooter Libby was a nice liberal boy until he met Paul Wolfowitz--who'd been a nice liberal boy till he met Albert Wohlstetter. A brief history of apocalyptic neoconservatism.

Introduction

Hello.

Some of you will be familiar with my previous blog, Living Armstrongism, which discusses my former religion, Armstrongism, a Christian based cult that was devised by Herbert W. Armstrong. I have since decided that he was wrong on many things and I don't need his heretical organizations to get close to God. I am now a Christian.

I'm just an ordinary guy. But I've been reading so much stuff lately that I feel I need a less COG oriented blog.

For quite awhile I have been absolutely fascinated with American politics and I feel compelled to speak my mind, for its worth on these matters. (And give myself a way to preserve any fascinating columns or posts that I see on this subject.)