World News: Sep 13, 2011

Tuesday, September 13, 2011

Al Qaeda: Never an “Existential Threat”

Al Qaeda: Never an "Existential Threat"
Posted by Gene Healy

My Washington Examiner column [1] this week celebrates 10 years without a major follow-up attack on American soil, and argues that the main reason the United States has been terror-free for a decade isn't the unparalleled competence of the federal government's terror warriorsit's the fact that al Qaeda was never an "existential threat."

I've written a number [2] of columns [3] and blogposts making the same point [4] over the years [5], and yet, every time I write something that says "al Qaeda's not so terrifying," I feel compelled to knock wood, genuflecting to the superstition that merely saying "we're pretty safe" out loud will jinx us, and the moment a piece is published, the terrorists will morph into villains worthy of TV's 24, moving from ineffectual gas-can bombs [6] to nukes.

So far, though, it seems there wasn't much reason to worry.

Last week, the Washington Post ran a piece entitled, "Who got 9/11 right, and who got it wrong? A pundit score card." [7] The Post erred badly by not including the distinguished political scientist and friend of Cato, John Mueller [8], who started making the case that the al Qaeda threat was overblown [9] back when duct tape alerts [10] were the "new normal." I can't think of any other prominent figure who got it right as early and as often as Mueller did.

As long as we're giving credit for prescience, though, I'd like to toot my own horn (sure, it's graceless, but nobody else is volunteering for the job).

As a larval pundit pecking away in obscurity through the early aughties, I suspected, before I'd ever read Mueller, that the al Qaeda threat was overblown -- and I made that case wherever I could.

In September 2002, I reviewed Peter Bergen's Holy War, Inc. [11] for Liberty magazine: "Osama bin Laden: Not as Scary as You Think" (.pdf ) [12]. In it, I asked whether al Qaeda was "as dangerous as federal powergrabbers have led us to believe."

After recounting what Bergen reported about Mohamed Odeh, an al Qaeda operative involved in the 1998 bombing of the U.S. embassy in Tanzaniawho botched his own escape by trying to convince Pakistani immigration officials that terrorism was "the right thing to do for Islam,"I ventured that "a lot of these folks don't sound all that bright." (Since then, I've become even more convinced that these guys were never the sharpest scimitars in the shed [13].)

In December 2002, when my now-defunct blog was young and DC was waiting for the other shoe to drop [14] after 9/11, I wondered "What if There Isn't Another Shoe?": "If the American Jihad/mullahs under the bed/the-country-is-riddled-with-sleeper-cells theory is correct, then why so quiet?" I suggested: "maybe there aren't that many of them," which turned out to be true. (Here's a reference [15], and you can find the original if you go here [16] and scroll down.)

Ten years later, it's heartening to know that what was once a fringe positionand a marker of being "unserious" about terrorism -- is fast becoming [17] the conventional [18] wisdom [19].

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/al-qaeda-never-an-existential-threat/

[1] http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/09/al-qaeda-was-never-existential-threat#ixzz1XndssQFT10
[2] http://washingtonexaminer.com/node/102096
[3] http://washingtonexaminer.com/node/62986
[4] http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/06/beware-depends-bomber
[5] http://washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columnists/2011/07/when-al-qaeda-defeated-can-we-have-our-liberties-back
[6] http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2010/0504/Times-Square-bomber-joins-the-growing-list-of-inept-terrorists
[7] http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/who-got-911-right-and-who-got-it-wrong-a-pundit-score-card/2011/09/08/gIQAmppkFK_print.html
[8] http://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/john-mueller/
[9] http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv27n3/v27n3-5.pdf
[10] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duct_tape_alert
[11] http://www.amazon.com/Holy-War-Inc-Inside-Secret/dp/0743205022
[12] http://www.libertyunbound.com/sites/files/printarchive/Liberty_Magazine_September_2002_0.pdf
[13] http://washingtonexaminer.com/node/62986
[14] http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/wait_for_the_other_shoe_to_drop
[15] http://www.highclearing.com/archivesuo/week_2002_12_08.html#003390
[16] http://genehealy.com/2002/12/page/2/
[17] http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/09/end-911-era/?utm_source=co2hog
[18] https://chronicle.com/article/article-content/128443/
[19] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/08/us/sept-11-reckoning/cost.html?_r=2&partner=rss&emc=rss

ChrisInMaryville's Blog

----------

ChrisInMaryville's Blog <http://chrisinmaryville.net>
<http://fusion.google.com/add?source=atgs&feedurl=http://feeds.feedburner.com/ChrisinmaryvillesBlog>

________________________________

Scared punk, thug, just saying <#13263a99cffa9e0e_1>
RON PAUL is EXPLODING (2012 Trust Today) <#13263a99cffa9e0e_2>
Ron Paul Subcommittee to Explore Restoring Sound Money Tuesday, September 13, at 2:00 p.m ET <#13263a99cffa9e0e_3>
TSA Creator Says Dismantle, Privatize the Agency <#13263a99cffa9e0e_4>
A Legend Will Rise – Ron Paul <#13263a99cffa9e0e_5>
Revolution Pac Premieres Ron Paul TV Spot At Liberty Fest NYC <#13263a99cffa9e0e_6>
Ron Paul CAN Win! <#13263a99cffa9e0e_7>
Why Ron Paul scares Rick Perry <#13263a99cffa9e0e_8>

Scared punk, thug, just saying <http://chrisinmaryville.net/scared-punk-thug-just-saying.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 07:18 PM PDT

RON PAUL is EXPLODING (2012 Trust Today) <http://chrisinmaryville.net/ron-paul-is-exploding-2012-trust-today.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:50 PM PDT

Ron Paul is Exploding Trust Today 2012 - is exploding through the Republican Primary. Even though he seems to be the Front Runner, the media refuses to even acknowledge that he exists. Even despite Rons finish in the Iowa Straw Poll which was 2nd

Ron Paul Subcommittee to Explore Restoring Sound Money Tuesday, September 13, at 2:00 p.m ET <http://chrisinmaryville.net/ron-paul-subcommittee-to-explore-restoring-sound-money-tuesday-september-13-at-200-p-m-et.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:37 PM PDT

Source: http://www.dailypaul.com WASHINGTON, DC – Congressman Ron Paul, Chairman of the Domestic Monetary Policy and Technology Subcommittee, announced today that the subcommittee will hold a hearing on legislation to restore sound money to the

TSA Creator Says Dismantle, Privatize the Agency <http://chrisinmaryville.net/tsa-creator-says-dismantle-privatize-the-agency.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 06:15 PM PDT

Source: http://ht.ly/6sgkg They've been accused of rampant thievery, spending billions of dollars like drunken sailors, groping children and little old ladies, and making everyone take off their shoes. But the real job of the tens of thou

A Legend Will Rise – Ron Paul <http://chrisinmaryville.net/a-legend-will-rise-ron-paul.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:56 PM PDT

As an Air Force veteran, Ron Paul believes national defense is the single most important responsibility the Constitution entrusts to the federal government. In Congress, Ron Paul voted to authorize military force to hunt down Osama bin Laden a

Revolution Pac Premieres Ron Paul TV Spot At Liberty Fest NYC <http://chrisinmaryville.net/revolution-pac-premieres-ron-paul-tv-spot-at-liberty-fest-nyc.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:36 PM PDT

Source: http://truthsquad.tv Revolution PAC Advisory Board Chairman Thomas Woods, announced the premiere of the first Ron Paul 2012 Presidential campaign commercial produced by the PAC during his talk at Liberty Fest NYC. Woods warned the crow

Ron Paul CAN Win! <http://chrisinmaryville.net/ron-paul-can-win.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:15 PM PDT

Source: http://island-adv.com Despite the best efforts of the mainstream media and the Republican apparatchik to ignore him or paint him as a kook, Representative Ron Paul can win the Republican nomination. The MSM is finally recognizing that P

Why Ron Paul scares Rick Perry <http://chrisinmaryville.net/why-ron-paul-scares-rick-perry.html>

Posted: 12 Sep 2011 05:00 PM PDT

Source: http://thehill.com One of the cardinal rules of politics is "never attack down," meaning a front-runner should never attack or respond to an opponent who is far behind. Yet that is what Rick Perry is doing. He is intimidated by Ron Paul,
You are subscribed to email updates from ChrisInMaryville's Blog <http://chrisinmaryville.net>
To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now <http://feedburner.google.com/fb/a/mailunsubscribe?k=4dfJvmSPoB2Vf9AM9B2TWIndwb8>. Email delivery powered by Google
Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

Union violence of little interest to media

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: THE Fox
Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Subject: Union violence of little interest to media
To: Don Fredrick <colony14@gmail.com>, BOB GREGORY <rhgusn@gmail.com>, Henry Morgan <henrymorgan@knology.net>, Bruce Majors <majors.bruce@gmail.com>, "cbhensler@aol.com" <cbhensler@aol.com>, Sergeant Freedom <sergeantfreedom@gmail.com>, "JustJohnAKAP1@aol.com" <JustJohnAKAP1@aol.com>, THIEF of the Free <sergeantfreedom@hotmail.com>, "sergeantalvarez@gmail.com" <sergeantalvarez@gmail.com>, "gunner847@aol.com" <gunner847@aol.com>, "d3869@ymail.com" <d3869@ymail.com>, "srking@compuserve.com" <srking@compuserve.com>, "ducky4817@comcast.net" <ducky4817@comcast.net>, "vandoran.heather@yahoo.com" <vandoran.heather@yahoo.com>, "twelve43@comcast.net" <twelve43@comcast.net>, "jmills9786@aol.com" <jmills9786@aol.com>, "sirguy2003@ameritech.net" <sirguy2003@ameritech.net>, Commander Pablo Lopez USN <commanderlopez@hotmail.com>, "baywife@aol.com" <baywife@aol.com>, "Num1Mema@aol.com" <Num1Mema@aol.com>, "Rockysma1@msn.com" <Rockysma1@msn.com>, "phayes9402@comcast.net" <phayes9402@comcast.net>, "conner2or@aol.com" <conner2or@aol.com>, Roger Gellar <rgellar000@yahoo.com>, John Hansen <majorhart@sbcglobal.net>, "advancedstudiesca@gmail.com" <advancedstudiesca@gmail.com>, "JBoyle10@aol.com" <JBoyle10@aol.com>, Don Divine <d3869@sbcglobal.net>, "PredatorBC@aol.com" <PredatorBC@aol.com>, "Lloyd F." <lfeverest@yahoo.com>, Judy Hayner <edpals2@yahoo.com>, Keith <onepocketplayer@gmail.com>, Tom <boldsaber@gmail.com>, churi1001 <churi1001@gmail.com>, "mccloediii @dslextreme.com" <mccloediii@dslextreme.com>, "Mckinneyhunter@aol.com" <Mckinneyhunter@aol.com>, "peterjfescue@gmail.com" <peterjfescue@gmail.com>, "wallyny@optonline.net" <wallyny@optonline.net>, "d3869@yahoo.com" <d3869@yahoo.com>, MARK CARPENTER <carpbear@sbcglobal.net>, gary beauregard <beau@gcbussu.com>, Jim <jreed62254@aol.com>, whatnowgop <whatnowgop@yahoo.com>, "loriefartlett@yahoo.com" <loriefartlett@yahoo.com>, Michelle Seltzer <michelle.seltzer@yahoo.com>, "lenaprimeaux@bellsouth.net" <lenaprimeaux@bellsouth.net>, "sherrydawn06@aol.com" <sherrydawn06@aol.com>, "JUDYFULLER007@aol.com" <JUDYFULLER007@aol.com>, "vbboyd123456@yahoo.com Boyd" <vbboyd123456@yahoo.com>, "Salemst@aol.com" <Salemst@aol.com>, "pasharabit@verizon.net" <pasharabit@verizon.net>, "GeriOhMy@aol.com" <GeriOhMy@aol.com>

September 9, 2011
Union violence of little interest to media
K.E. Campbell
Over 500 people "storm <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016144477_longshoremen09m.html>" private property, break windows and vandalize other property, wield baseball bats and crowbars, make death threats, and allegedly hold six guards hostage. Fifty law enforcement officers respond. U.S. Marshalls are placed on standby to enforce a related injunction issued by a federal judge.
It happened yesterday at a grain terminal at Port of Longview in southwest Washington State. The perpetrators? Members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU). The local police chief was quoted <http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016144477_longshoremen09m.html> as saying, "A lot of the protesters were telling us this is only the start."
Not surprisingly, the incident didn't garner much national attention. Imagine how the coverage by the so-called mainstream media would have differed had anything even remotely similar occurred at a gathering of people of a different political persuasion, say those Tea Party SOBs.
Union violence is not rare. The National Institute for Labor Relations (NILR) has collected <http://www.nilrr.org/node/54> over 9,000 reports of union violence since 1975 and the actual number is much higher--by as much as a factor of ten. Only a fraction of such offenses result in arrest and conviction.
On Monday, Teamsters Union president James Hoffa proudly declared, "The one thing about working people is we like a good fight." (Fight, not good, being the operative word.). Echoing Hoffa, ILWU President Bob McEllrath said <http://www.ilwu.org/?p=2927> "It shouldn't be a crime to fight for good jobs in America."
The fight crowd has certain federal legal precedent on its side of the ring. According to NILR, the U.S. Supreme Court's 1973 Enmons decision <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Enmons>, among other factors, makes prosecution of union violence difficult. According to the Cato Institute <https://www.cato.org/pub_display.php?pub_id=1175>, violence "deemed to be in furtherance of "legitimate" union objectives" is exempt from prosecution under federal anti-extortion laws. Offenders can be charged and prosecuted under state and other federal laws, but the scales of "justice" in such instances, just like our federal government's overall pro-union rather than union-neutral stance, are tipped in favor of organized labor. Until that changes, we'll get more of the rot such laws and regulations have wrought.

http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/09/union_violence_of_little_interest_to_media.html

[LA-F] Richard Littlejohn: Crims ain't what they used to be

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Mario LAF
Date: Tuesday, September 13, 2011
Subject: [LA-F] Richard Littlejohn: Crims ain't what they used to be
To: libertarian Alliance Forum <libertarian-alliance-forum@yahoogroups.com>

Crims ain't what they used to be

By Richard Littlejohn <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/search.html?s=&authornamef=Richard+Littlejohn>

Last updated at 10:08 AM on 13th September 2011

There was a real whiff of nostalgia about the funeral of Tottenham 'gangsta' Mark Duggan.

The chorus-line plumage; the white, horse-drawn Victorian hearse; the top-hatted undertaker; the dark-suited cortege; the fleet of black limos; the lavish floral tributes; the locals lining the route to pay their last respects.

Squint beyond the bling and it could have been the East End saying farewell to one of the Kray twins. When it comes to maudlin sentimentality, no one does it quite like the criminal underworld.

</mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13263c0958a1850b&attid=0.1.1&disp=emb&zw>

Nostalgia: The funeral of Tottenham 'gangsta' Mark Duggan saw chorus-line plumage, a horse-drawn Victorian hearse and a dark-suited cortege

Although most of the mourners were from an Afro-Caribbean background, this was a very British occasion, in the finest gangster tradition.

The facts surrounding the shooting of Duggan by police, which sparked the recent riots, are still being investigated.

We must await the outcome of that independent inquiry, although we have it from no less an authority than Ken Hinds, of the Haringey Stop and Search Monitoring Group, that Scotland Yard’s version of events ‘doesn’t fit in with everything we know on the street’.

Depending on who you believe, Duggan was either a much-loved family man, a pillar of the community and an ‘elder’ on the Broadwater Farm estate — or a major player in gangland violence, intimidation and the drugs trade.

He may well have been all of the above. Ron and Reg were loved and feared in equal measure and renowned for being good to their old mum, Violet. They did a bit of community work, too, when they weren’t nailing people’s heads to coffee tables.

The scale of Duggan’s send-off was certainly in keeping with his reputation as a crime boss. It was almost as elaborate and reverential as a full state funeral. All that was missing was a marching New Orleans jazz band.

</mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13263c0958a1850b&attid=0.1.2&disp=emb&zw>

Funeral: The scale of Mark Duggan's send-off was in keeping with his reputation as a crime boss

Crime has moved on since the heyday of the Krays in the 1960s. Guns are now two-a-penny and as drugs have become rife, old-fashioned villainy has gone out of fashion.

You can tell a great deal about a nation from the quality of its crime. Britain used to boast some of the finest armed robbers in the world.

It took a lot more bottle to go across the cobbles with a sawn-off Purdey than it does to sell crack cocaine outside the school gates.

Hijacking Securicor vans demands more courage and meticulous planning than kicking in the front of Currys and legging it with a flat‑screen TV.

This isn’t in any way to attempt to justify the activities of the old‑school crooks. But there was undeniably more romance about blagging and bank raids.

The Great Train Robbery was like a military operation, carried out with immense precision and chutzpah. The robbers may have been violent criminals but they captured the imagination.

Buster Edwards became a minor celebrity. I can’t imagine anyone making a movie about the exploits of Mark Duggan.

When Britain was economically confident, the chaps were turning over silver vaults and safety deposit boxes. The epic Brink’s-Mat job at Heathrow was the biggest bullion theft in history.

Now we are in dire financial straits, organised crime is feeding on scraps.

Once, the remote barns and lock-ups of Essex and Kent groaned with high-end swag.

Yet when police swooped on a warehouse linked to a gang in Rainham, East London, at the weekend, all they recovered was a few bags of second-hand clothes. Apparently, stealing clothes left out in the street in charity bags is big business these days. There are millions of pounds to be made selling the stuff in Eastern Europe.

Some gangs are even setting up their own fake charities to con people into handing over their unwanted clobber.

It’s a sure-fire scheme to turn rags to riches, but — be honest — it’s not proper crime, is it? Where’s the flair, the derring-do? It doesn’t get much lower than this.

Breaking into a clothes bank isn’t exactly holding up the NatWest with a shooter.

Nicking clothes from charity bags is right up there with stealing the whisky bottle filled with pennies from the bar of the local boozer.

No self-respecting old-school villain would be seen dead making off with a bin liner full of last week’s washing. This isn’t robbery, it’s totting with intent. And they don’t even leave you a goldfish.

Whenever men called Ron gather on the Costa del Crime to swap remembrances of Biggsy and Mad Frankie, they won’t be raising a glass to the mastermind of this tawdry criminal enterprise.

And when the Mr Big behind this grubby little operation leaves this mortal coil after a shoot-out with police over a sack of second-hand smalls, there’ll be no stage-managed funeral, no plumed horses or fancy hearses.

No one will be lining the streets to pay their last respects to the architect of The Great Charity Bag Robbery.

What do you do if you are approached by a man in a dress, asking the way to the toilets? Apart from burst out laughing, that is.

If you are a volunteer at next year’s Olympics, you are told: ‘Do not make an assumption about their gender unless directed by their name.

‘If you are asked, provide instructions to the male/female and accessible toilets.’

</mail/u/0/s/?view=att&th=13263c0958a1850b&attid=0.1.3&disp=emb&zw>

Top tips: Volunteers at next year's Olympics have been told not to make assumptions about people's gender unless directed by their name

That last bit covers all eventualities, just in case the bloke in a frock with the five o’clock shadow also happens to be in a wheelchair.

This top tip comes from a guidebook issued to everyone volunteering to help visitors to the Games. Staff are also told they must avoid ‘patronising words’ such as ‘young man’ and ‘dear’. They shouldn’t use ‘able-bodied’, either. The approved term is ‘Non-disabled person’.

This drivel has been drawn up by LOCOG, the 2012 organising committee, to make the Games ‘as diverse and inclusive as possible’.

Volunteers are also told they should wear sunglasses when it is bright, make sure their shoes are comfortable and get a good night’s sleep.

Presumably, as part of making the event ‘diverse and inclusive’, the organisers have decided to recruit volunteers only from the ranks of the educationally subnormal. The obsession with ‘diversity’ even extends to the mascots, Wenlock and Mandeville, which have been designed to be ‘gender-neutral’.

So what do you do if one of them asks the way to the toilet?

I’m surprised the committee hasn’t already decided that instead of actually running races, medals should be allocated by quota, based on ethnicity, gender and sexual proclivity.

After all, if that Blade Runner chap can take part in the ‘non-disabled’ 400 metres, what’s to stop a man in a dress competing in the women’s modern pentathlon?

Hi-viz jacket racket

Crossing the road last week, I was almost knocked over by a learner driver hurtling round the bend.

Her instructor in the passenger seat was wearing a hi-viz jacket.

Why? Does elf’n’safety now insist all driving instructors wear hi-viz vests?

Mind you, the dangerous way this dopey bird was driving I wouldn’t have blamed him for wearing a hard hat, too.

Life on Benefits? Simply torture

Last week it was the former Ukrainian policeman, said to be accused back home of two murders, who was found to have been living in Britain on benefits since 1996.

He was identified after he tackled a stabbing suspect at the Notting Hill Carnival.

Now we learn that an ex-Albanian spy, wanted for torture and kidnapping, has also been living here on welfare — in a council flat — for the past 15 years.

Barely a week goes by without news of some other foreign torturer or war criminal now shacked up in Britain at taxpayers’ expense.

As the search for Colonel Gaddafi goes on, don’t be surprised to discover that he’s living in a council house in Camden and signing on at the DSS, while we pick up the legal aid bill for his extradition challenge.

What’s the opposite of a facelift?

Whatever it is, Sarah Ferguson appears to have had it.

When I saw the latest picture of her at her daughter’s graduation, I could have sworn it was an Ozzy Osbourne fright mask.

Look, I know I shouldn’t laugh and it really isn’t funny, but I couldn’t help chortling at the story about the unfortunate chap who was killed when he got tangled up in a clothes horse.

Just as I was reading this tragic tale in Saturday’s Mail, there was a ring on the doorbell.

It was a man from Lakeland delivering a new clothes horse. Do you think my wife is trying to tell me something?

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-2036661/Mark-Duggan-funeral-Criminals-aint-used-be.html#ixzz1XqwyeMuz

--
Mario Huet
Libertarian Alliance Forum
List Administrator

**********************************************
Words cannot picture her; but all men know
That solemn sketch the pure sad artist wrought
**********************************************
James Thomson, The City of Dreadful Night

[grendelreport] Shipment of your special item

Re: Fwd: [grendelreport] How the Media Furor Over Bush's War on Terror Vanished Under Obama

int'l terrorism by the USA can't be condoned regardless of who is cic

On Sep 13, 5:55 am, Bruce Majors <majors.br...@gmail.com> wrote:
> **
>
> ** **
>
> Proof of the totally partisan, anti-American bias of the mainstream media.**
> **
>
> ** **
>
> B****
>
> ** **
>
> http://www.mediaresearch.org/specialreports/2011/redWhiteandPartisan/...
> ****
>
> *Red, White, and Partisan *
>
> How the Media Furor Over Bush's War on Terror Vanished Under Obama ****
> ------------------------------
>
> ** **
>
> Executive Summary ****
>
> ** **
>
> [image:http://www.mrc.org/Static/uploads/2001-09-11-NBC-Today-240.jpg]****
>
> The premeditated murder of thousands of Americans on September 11, 2001
> unified the United States, in grief over the attacks and in resolve to never
> let it happen again. Just as Members of Congress stood together as one on
> the Capitol steps to sing "God Bless America," the American major media
> united with the people in their collective shock and outrage.
>
> But that feeling did not last. Within a month, America went to war in
> Afghanistan, and the media returned to its traditional pose of being above
> "nationalistic fervor." Instead, the media coverage grew dark and
> foreboding, presenting America as a malignant force many Americans didn't
> recognize.
>
> When Barack Obama was elected, the pessimism faded, and so did the
> skepticism. Even Obama's continuation of certain Bush anti-terror policies
> didn't outrage the media. To review how the broadcast television networks
> portrayed the War on Terror in the decade since 9/11, the Media Research
> Center has identified major trends that stand out from ten years of media
> analysis. The Bush policy was often reviled, and the Obama policy was often
> ignored or praised:****
>
> ****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Bush, anchors and reporters painted the War on
> Terror as a dark era in American history where our civil liberties were
> vanishing. Terrorist suspects were often treated as morally superior to
> their U.S. military captors.****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Obama, the picture of unjustly detained terror
> suspects faded from view, and Guantanamo faded as an international outrage.*
> ***
>
> **[image: *] **Under Bush, the networks eagerly promoted partisan
> talking points that cast the administration as villainous or inept in its
> handling of the War on Terror – or, even worse, somehow to blame for the
> 9/11 attacks themselves.****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Obama, the media's coverage of Obama's failures
> on terrorism (the mass murder at Fort Hood and the near misses above Detroit
> and in Times Square) diverted the subject from Obama's performance to other
> controversies (like America's alleged "Islamophobia"). When Obama's
> performance succeeded – as in his command of the mission to kill Osama bin
> Laden – the subject wasn't changed.****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Bush, TV journalists were so averse to
> nationalism that they found allusions to an "axis of evil" in the world to
> be grotesque, and obsessed over the unpopularity of Bush's America in Europe
> and the Middle East.****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Obama, the media simply assumed that a less
> nationalistic Obama's outreach to the Muslim world (including his speech in
> Cairo) would warm global opinion, and ignored surveys that belied that
> assumption. ****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Bush, the networks defended Bush's partisan
> critics as patriotic dissenters who should not be impugned, even as those
> protesters impugned Bush in the vilest terms. ****
>
> **[image: *] **Under Obama, Republicans were discouraged from
> criticizing the President for terror-policy failures and left-wing critics
> of Obama's continuation of Bush policies vanished from the airwaves.****
>
> MRC's conclusion: While journalists like ABC News president David Westin
> insisted that the patriotic thing for journalists to do after 9/11 was "to
> be independent and objective and present the facts to the American people,"
> the networks failed to live up that "we report, you decide" standard****
>
> ** **
>
> __._,_.___
> Reply to sender<beow...@westerndefense.net?subject=Re%3A%20How%20the%20Media%20Furor%20Over%20Bush%27s%20War%20on%20Terror%20Vanished%20Under%20Obama%20>|
> Reply
> to group<grendelrep...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Re%3A%20How%20the%20Media%20Furor%20Over%20Bush%27s%20War%20on%20Terror%20Vanished%20Under%20Obama%20>|
> Start
> a New Topic<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/post;_ylc=X3oDMTJmZTlydXR...>
> Recent Activity:
>
> - New Members<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport/members;_ylc=X3oDMTJnZWZw...>
> 1
>
> Visit Your Group<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grendelreport;_ylc=X3oDMTJmbWoxZTBmBF9T...>
> MARKETPLACE
> A bad score is 598. A bad idea is not checking yours, at
> freecreditscore.com.<http://global.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15o29lvs7/M=791726.14854538.14596965....>
> ------------------------------
>
> Stay on top of your group activity without leaving the page you're on - Get
> the Yahoo! Toolbar
> now.<http://global.ard.yahoo.com/SIG=15os23m4b/M=493064.14543979.14562481....>
> [image: Yahoo!
> Groups]<http://groups.yahoo.com/;_ylc=X3oDMTJlcHRsYXJ0BF9TAzk3NDc2NTkwBGdycEl...>
> Switch to: Text-Only<grendelreport-traditio...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Change+Delivery+Format:+Traditional>,
> Daily Digest<grendelreport-dig...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Email+Delivery:+Digest>•
> Unsubscribe <grendelreport-unsubscr...@yahoogroups.com?subject=Unsubscribe>•
> Terms
> of Use <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>
> .
>
> __,_._,___
>
> image001.jpg
> 42KViewDownload

--
Thanks for being part of "PoliticalForum" at Google Groups.
For options & help see http://groups.google.com/group/PoliticalForum

* Visit our other community at http://www.PoliticalForum.com/
* It's active and moderated. Register and vote in our polls.
* Read the latest breaking news, and more.

Shipment of your special item

Please read all of this!

Sorry, Your Shipment Has Been Delayed

--- never seen such a DEMAND for a product....

Your shipment has been backordered:

We apologize for the delay.

We simply cannot keep up With the demand for this very popular item.

198 million are currently on Back order.

We will complete your delivery as soon as possible.

We thank you for your patronage.

243 House Members Back Federal Concealed-Weapons Reciprocity Bill

Dr. Eowyn | September 13, 2011 at 6:17 am | Tags: Constitution, gun sales, HR 822, Illinois, John Donohue, lawyers, National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Bill, NRA, Obama, Police, Scott Walker, Washington DC | Categories: Constitution, crime, Liberals, Republican Party, Second Amendment, United States, US Presidents | URL: http://wp.me/pKuKY-9lp

Here's some encouraging Second Amendment news after yesterday's downer about that mayor in New Mexico banning guns in the village of Ruidoso.

More than half of the members of the House of Representatives have co-sponsored a bill, requiring any state or jurisdiction that issues concealed-weapons permits to honor permits granted by any other state or jurisdiction. It's H.R. 822: The National Right-to-Carry Reciprocity Bill.

John Crewdson reports for Bloomberg News, Sept. 12, 2011, that if Congress passes the bill, Florida's licenses, for example, would apply to 49 states in all -- allowing their holders to carry hidden guns in places such as midtown Manhattan, where the New York Police Department currently rejects most such applications for "concealed- carry" permits.

Only Illinois and Washington, D.C., where residents aren't allowed to carry concealed handguns at all, would be exempt from the bill.

"Law-abiding people are not immune from crime just because they cross over a state border," said Andrew Arulanandam, a spokesman for the National Rifle Association. The 4 million-member gun-rights group has lobbied state legislatures to pass concealed-carry laws since the 1980s, and it considers the federal "reciprocity" bill a common-sense approach to the state-by-state patchwork of rules, he said.

But John Donohue, a professor at Stanford Law School, says he thinks the bill would be held unconstitutional because it "effectively prevents a state from controlling who has guns within the state, which has always been a core police power function of state government. It is so ironic that it is the conservatives who are trying to push this encroachment, since they usually are very active in championing states' rights."

Rules and standards -- including safety-training requirements -- for granting such licenses vary by state. New Mexico requires 16 hours of training. Ohio requires 12, Texas and Louisiana, 10. At least 10 states require none.

From 2005 through 2009, U.S. domestic handgun production and foreign-made imports more than doubled, to 4,600,232 from 1,995,802, according to data compiled by the National Shooting Sports Foundation, which represents the firearms industry.

With states' adoption of concealed-carry laws and U.S. Supreme Court decisions affirming the right to keep and bear arms, "it is not surprising that there has been an increase in consumer demand for firearm and ammunition products," said Lawrence G. Keane, the foundation's senior vice president and general counsel.

In Wisconsin, where Governor Scott Walker, a Republican, signed the nation's newest concealed-carry law on July 8, the legislation spurred an immediate increase in handgun purchases, said Eric Grabowski, who manages the Shooters Shop in the Milwaukee suburb of West Allis.

A 2007 study by the Harvard School of Public Health, the most recent data available, estimated the number of privately owned firearms in the U.S. at 283 million -- more than one for each of the 245 million Americans over the age of 20.

If adopted, the federal reciprocity bill would cause the number of handguns to "jump significantly," said Grover Norquist, an NRA board member who's better known as the president of Americans for Tax Reform. Among other reasons, Norquist cited his belief that people who live in one state and travel frequently to another for work or other reasons would buy more guns.

States can already choose to adopt reciprocity agreements -- Florida has such pacts with 35 other states, although 4 of them require that the permit holder be a Florida resident. The federal bill would eliminate states' discretion. As a result, even the most exacting jurisdictions would be required to honor permits from the laxest. Stanford University law professor Robert Weisberg called it a "race to the bottom."

In 2007, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel newspaper in Fort Lauderdale reported that 1,400 people in the state had permits even though they had been sentenced for major crimes, including assault, drug possession, sexual battery and manslaughter. Judges had withheld formal convictions under a state law that allowed the practice.

Since 2007, after the NRA lobbied on the issue, 39 states have limited the amount of public information that's available on permit holders -- making investigations into their backgrounds more difficult.

In 14 states, residents need some form of license, permit or other prerequisite just to purchase a handgun from a dealer, according to the NRA's Institute for Legislative Action. Those requirements wouldn't be affected by the federal bill.

The federal legislation, introduced by U.S. Representative Heath Shuler, a North Carolina Democrat, and Representative Cliff Stearns, a Florida Republican, has already attracted 241 other co-sponsors in the House, enough to guarantee its passage in that chamber.

Two Republican senators, David Vitter of Louisiana and John Thune of South Dakota, are expected to introduce a companion bill that at least 10 Democratic senators are likely to support, said Chad Ramsey, a lobbyist with the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence, which opposes concealed carry. That would give the bill 58 votes if all Republican senators supported it, two short of the number needed to avoid a filibuster.

Obama declared his opposition to carrying concealed weapons during the 2008 campaign. Matt Lehrich, a White House spokesman, declined to say whether Obama would veto a national reciprocity bill if it reaches his desk.

The bill, which is scheduled to come up during a House subcommittee hearing on Tuesday, is opposed by the American Bar Association. At its convention last month, the lawyers' professional group adopted a resolution supporting "broad discretion" for local law enforcement in deciding whether to grant permits.

A coalition of 600 U.S. mayors announced its opposition to the bill today in a news release. The group, Mayors Against Illegal Handguns, is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino and New York Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. Bloomberg is the founder and majority owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent company of Bloomberg News.

The 22,000-member International Association of Chiefs of Police also opposes the measure. "Our problem is the potpourri of varied training standards for each state," said Scott Knight, the police chief in Chaska, Minnesota, and chairman of the group's firearms committee.

Largely because of the differing standards among "shall issue" and "may issue" states, the bill raises what Harvard University professor of constitutional law Laurence Tribe calls "interesting and difficult constitutional questions." Tribe said the bill is "an unprecedented attempt by Congress" to require states with more stringent concealed carry laws to accede to "the more permissive laws of whichever state initially licensed someone's carrying of a concealed weapon."

While the Constitution's commerce clause gives Congress authority to regulate commerce between the states, the reciprocity bill probably wouldn't fall within that power, said Weisberg, the law professor who serves as faculty co-director of the Stanford Criminal Justice Center. Nor would it fall under Congress' power to enforce such existing constitutional liberties as the right "to keep and bear arms," he said. That's because the Constitution is silent about whether there's a specific right to carry a concealed firearm outside the home, and the Supreme Court has not yet spoken on the issue.

Read the full article here.

~Eowyn

Add a comment to this post

WordPress.com | Thanks for flying with WordPress!
Manage Subscriptions | Unsubscribe | Publish text, photos, music, and videos by email using our Post by Email feature.

Trouble clicking? Copy and paste this URL into your browser: http://subscribe.wordpress.com

JP Rainy Flood loss Updates in Sindh

Dear Friends,

District Badin

Badin is the worst affected rain since the district has received both rounds of the rains. Besides crops and infrastructure loss the people are now dying of hunger and disappearing health facilities in the areas. The There is stinking, in the stagnant water which the area elders guess is might of the dead animals and human being all around. It is beyond the expectation that the people will not be able to find a safe way to shift their families. All major roads have been disconnected. Only well-off people might have shifted their families while majority could not move and now there is no safe way to go out. There are reports in the district that the incapable government and legislators are piling relief goods in certain warehouses and benefitting their own well-wishers instead of giving to the real victims. There is water flowing all around and it seems the people have lost their paths traveling from one place to the other in the uncertainty.

Three union councils, including Pangrio, Khalifo Qasim and Shadi Lodge, being located on the right side of Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD) are completely inundated by the flood water, which is flowing from different directions. Almost all the adjoining villages in three UCs are under the water. All the people have been shifted by boats operating Pakistan army There are tractor trolleys for shifting the people to safe areas.

Traveling by roads there were carcasses of hundreds of livestock, especially small animals, goats, sheep and donkeys died in a large number, which can portray the horrible situation. People were migrating to unseen destinations, because they were unsure about their accurate place where to shift.

All the roads linking the Pangrio town with Tando Bago, Jhuddo, Naukot, Khoski and Shadi Lodge have already been destroyed by the water, leaving the people disconnected from rest of the world.

District Thatta

It shows that the rain has not only brought miseries to farmers and peasants also affected fisherman. More than 500 boats are anchored near local jetties in Thatta district, because due to rough sea weather the fishermen are reluctant to move their vessels for fishing. Continuously sitting idle at home has made the life of fishermen miserable. A large number of sparrow; crow and other birds are reportedly dead. The rain has damaged entirely infrastructure and communication channels. Electricity polls have collapsed in the areas causing power failure, disrupting water supply system in Thatta, Sujawal, Mirpur Bathoro, and Jati.
Due to paralysation of social life and movement, the villagers are facing food shortage.

Roads Damaged:

Jati to Jati Chowk (32 km) cut off due to water pressure.
Jati to Khorwah via Baran Abad (35 km) road is no more accessible for transport due to cuts and water of Karo Gungro Drain.
Jati to Chohar Jamali (35 km) road cut off due to water pressure
Sanghar to M irpurkhas
Sanghar to Nawabshah

Sanghar

The nonstop rains have hit hard to historical Sanghar city with inundating entire adjoining areas, including towns and villages, leaving the people in helpless conditions. There is no way for the people to shift to safe places anywhere. Hundreds of animals have reportedly died in rain-related incidents, hunger and diseases. The residents are forced to have contaminated water as entire water supply system was collapsed. There are reports that they have got truck loads with relief goods which they have put in warehouses. The affected people looking no hope are taking to roads and streets, blocking the roads, because breaches to drains played havoc with them. No elected representatives and district authorities have been witnessed over there to help the suffering people.

Umerkot

The rains also caused destruction in the desert district headquarters Umerkot with such an intensity that broke the history record, the locals say. The current wave of heavy and uninterrupted rains has added greatly to the miseries of the already affected ones. Hundreds of houses are collapsed. People and animal are dying reportedly because they are traveling to safer places, having no food and fodder. There is no health facility accessible to these people. The situation has left the people to live without shelter and vulnerable to various diseases like malaria, diarrhea and other gastric problems. The dire need of tents (shelter) is being felt for those who have been devoid of their houses. Hundreds of animals are seen dead along the road sides, because of mysterious diseases. Herdsmen are traveling to different directions to find a safe place for the families and their herds in the area.

Tharparkar

Tharparkar has almost lost its land routes with the rest of the country. There are reports of food shortage in the areas, because traders cannot reach the bigger markets. The certainty has panicked the people, who never experienced such a devastated rain. there is worst condition in which the people are living. Specially in those low lying areas where condition is worst in terms of house collapse and road damages, the people feel unsafe.

Livestock on sale

Displaced people from the worst affected areas facing hardship, take their animals, the most valuable property to sell them in cheap rates. There are reports that buffaloes, cows, goats the herdsmen and farmers are selling at 25 percent amount against its exact value. For example those cows of Rs100,000 are being sold at Rs25,000, buffaloes of Rs125,000 are being sold at Rs30-40000. The families feeling them insecure believe that they should live on their own instead of waiting for the government. The people have almost lost their trust and hope that the ruling leaders will come for their rescue. It is the common situation in almost the entire affected districts.

Immediate Need

In fact immediate need of the people is safe shelter/ tent where they may live in rains. The displaced families have lost each and everything in the devastation.
Since there is mass migration people need tents to live safe
Those marooned in the areas disconnected from the rest of country want to rescue them hurriedly
Food, NFIS, potable water are in the urgent of the people.

Regards
Shoaib Habib Memon
Thatta-Sindh
Cell.0314 2090252

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google
Groups "JoinPakistan" group.
You all are invited to come and share your information with other group members.
To post to this group, send email to joinpakistan@googlegroups.com
For more options, visit this group at
http://groups.google.com.pk/group/joinpakistan?hl=en?hl=en
You can also visit our blog site : www.joinpakistan.blogspot.com &
on facebook http://www.facebook.com/pages/Join-Pakistan/125610937483197

Swing Voters Recoil From Unions, and Obama

September 12, 2011
Swing Voters Recoil From Unions, and Obama
By Jack Kelly

Unions are all that protect America from "barbarians," Vice President Joe Biden said at a Labor Day rally in Cincinnati. But the only barbarian in evidence that day was Teamsters' President Jimmy Hoffa, who threatened to "take out" tea party critics of President Barack Obama's spending, albeit through the ballot box.

Mr. Hoffa was a warmup speaker for the president at the Labor Day rally in Detroit. Though he rarely misses an opportunity to lecture others on civility, Mr. Obama had no comment on Mr. Hoffa's remarkable incivility. And though the president didn't adopt Mr. Hoffa's threatening tone, he did imply his critics are unpatriotic.

A crowd that Detroit police estimated at 13,000 responded warmly to Mr. Obama. But when Candidate Obama spoke there in 2008, more than 30,000 came to hear him.

Unions have had few better friends than Mr. Obama. One of his first acts as president was to stiff Chrysler's bondholders to provide a windfall to the United Auto Workers. His National Labor Relations Board stretches the law to load the dice for unions.

But Mr. Obama has not been an effective friend, which is why the smiles of labor bigwigs seemed forced. They'd dreamed big dreams on Labor Day 2008. By Labor Day 2011, there were more nightmares than dreams.

Unions often lose representation elections, so their number one goal was "card check," which would dispense with secret ballots. Had Mr. Obama pushed card check when Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, it surely would have passed. He concentrated instead on Obamacare. This cost him popularity and Democrats the House.

Obamacare played a role in the pitiful end, for labor, of the Verizon strike. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers and the Communications Workers of America went on strike Aug. 7 to protest the company's plans to make union workers pay for health insurance. The change was needed, management said, because Obamacare will impose a 40 percent tax on "Cadillac" plans like Verizon's.

The strike was nasty. Management reported hundreds of acts of sabotage. A judge enjoined an IBEW local from, among other things, "throwing feces." But it was doomed, because union members are concentrated in Verizon's rapidly shrinking landline business. The unions called the strike off Aug. 20.

More than half of all union members today belong to public employee unions. These suffered a blow when Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill passed in Wisconsin. Among other things, the Wisconsin Education Association may no longer automatically deduct dues from teachers' paychecks.

When public employees are not required to pay union dues, most choose not to, noted columnist George F. Will. He wrote about how membership in the Colorado Association of Public Employees declined 70 percent after Colorado, in 2001, required annual votes reauthorizing collection of dues. Indiana stopped collecting dues from unionized public employees in 2005. There's been a 90 percent drop in dues paying members since then. When Washington state in 1992 ended automatic dues deductions for political activities, the percentage of teachers making such contributions fell from 82 to 11.

In Wisconsin, too. The teachers union announced Aug. 15 it would lay off 40 percent of its staff. The teaching assistants union at the University of Wisconsin announced Aug. 22 it would decertify.

Labor leaders fret they've gotten a poor return on the $400 million they spent to elect Democrats in 2008. Unions will reduce contributions to Democrats in 2012, AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka said Aug. 25. How vigorously unions support Mr. Obama depends on whether he abandons his current strategy of promoting "little nibbly things," Mr. Trumka said.

But the big things labor wants -- card check, a bailout of the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp., massive pork barrel projects -- are out of reach. With GOP control of the House, the outlook even for "little nibbly things" is cloudy.

Labor's problems stem from our massive debt and dismal economy. They are exacerbated by thuggish behavior, and by the unwillingness of unions to tighten their belts as other Americans must.

President Obama is polling in Jimmy Carter territory. Unions are less popular now than in many decades. Mutual weakness will draw Democrats and unions closer, despite labor's discontents. But the closer to each other they get, the more swing voters will recoil from both.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2011/09/12/swing_voters_recoil_from_unions_and_obama_111296.html

GOP Can Calibrate Statism

GOP Can Calibrate Statism
by Ilana Mercer

How moribund is the Republican Party? BARACK OBAMA'S latest proposals to yet again ply the people with "manna from the DC heavens" "have drawn [past] support from some Republicans and a few were even hatched by them."

The Republicans' defensive, counter-argument to that indictment, as reported on FoxNew.com, is that it all depends on how you mix this stuff up. Clearly Obama doesn't quite understand how to calibrate statism:

Indeed, most of the proposals have drawn support from some Republicans and a few were even hatched by them. But the proposals have never been combined in one package in an effort to jumpstart a weakening economy and Republicans have asked the president to keep them separate when he sends a legislative text to them next week

Until it becomes preponderantly populated with the likes of Rand and Ron Pauland provided representatives of their caliber remain incorruptible and uncompromisingthe Republican Party is never going to stand for freedom.

GOP, RIP.

http://barelyablog.com/?p=41969