Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Friday, December 23, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Gingrich: Ron Paul’s base is “people who want to legalize drugs”
In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback puts tea party tenets into action with sharp cuts
Monetary Theory, Crony Capitalism and the Tea Party
Tea Party raises fear of UN at Ocean County freeholder meeting

Gingrich: Ron Paul’s base is “people who want to legalize drugs”

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 12:11 PM PST

By Walt Cronkite, Sarah Huisenga, CBS News

Despite his mantra to stay “positive,” Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich took a swipe at rival Ron Paul on Thursday, suggesting that the Texas congressman’s political base consists of “people who want to legalize drugs.”

During a radio interview with conservative commentator John McCaslin, the former House speaker also said Paul is naive about the war on terrorism and Iran’s nuclear program. “This is a guy who basically says, if the United States were only nice, it wouldn’t have had 9/11. He doesn’t want to blame the bad guys. … He dismisses the danger of Iranian nuclear weapon and seems to be indifferent to the idea that Israel could be wiped out. And as I said, I think the key to his volunteer base is people who want to legalize drugs.”

Paul has grown in strength in recent polls in Iowa and is threatening Gingrich’s ability to merge from the state’s Jan. 3 GOP caucuses as the clear-cut conservative alternative to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Both Paul and Romney have unleashed a barrage of negative ads against Gingrich in the first caucus state, prompting Gingrich to challenge Romney to go one-on-one with him in a debate.

“I’m happy taking the heat, why doesn’t he join me in the kitchen?” Gingrich said on Fox News late Wednesday, referring to Romney’s quip that his rival should get out of the kitchen if he can’t stand the heat of critical ads. Gingrich called on Romney to join him for a 90-minute debate, a shorter engagement than the three-hour “Lincoln-Douglas” style debates he has touted for several weeks now.

In Kansas, Gov. Sam Brownback puts tea party tenets into action with sharp cuts

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 11:56 AM PST

By Annie Gowen, The Washington Post

TOPEKA, KAN. — If you want to know what a Tea Party America might look like, there is no place like Kansas.

In the past year, three state agencies have been abolished and 2,050 jobs have been cut. Funding for schools, social services and the arts have been slashed. The new Republican governor rejected a $31.5 million federal grant for a new health-insurance exchange because he opposes President Obama's health-care law. And that's just the small stuff.

A new "Office of the Repealer" has been created to reduce the number of laws and regulations, and the Repealer is canvassing the state for more cut suggestions.

In the upcoming legislative session, Gov. Sam Brownback (R) plans to roll out proposals to change the way schools are funded, taxes are levied and state pensions are administered.

A year after voters vaulted hundreds of tea party candidates to power in Washington and in state capitals, the movement's goals are being pursued aggressively in states such as Wisconsin, Ohio and Texas.

But in Kansas, as nowhere else in the country, tea party fervor is reshaping government. The same political forces of the Republican Party driving the confrontation over taxes and spending in Washington are now completely in charge in Kansas.

The GOP now controls the state's House of Representatives with the biggest majority in half a century. Emboldened by this power shift, Brownback — the state's former two-term U.S. senator — has embarked on his overhaul at a breathtaking pace.

Monetary Theory, Crony Capitalism and the Tea Party

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 11:53 AM PST

By John Carney, Senior Editor, CNBC.com

The past few years have taught us a lot about the effects and operations of monetary policy in the United States.

The Federal government responded to the economic downturn by spending enormous amounts and Federal Reserve responded to the financial crisis with an enormous expansion of its balance sheet — what the proles call “printing money” — and both occurred without any attendant inflation or giant soaring of interest rates.

The so-called “bond vigilantes” turned out to be mythological creatures, at least as far as U.S. federal debt is concerned. Even the crisis over the debt ceiling and the downgrade of the U.S.’s credit rating only lead to lower interest rates.

The school of economics that best explains this phenomenon is called “Modern Monetary Theory” or MMT. The MMT school is made up of scholars, businessmen and online advocates who have a deep understanding of the operations of the actual operational aspects of our monetary system.

They argue, quite persuasively, that our monetary system is built in such a way that our government is never revenue constrained, which is to say it can spend as much as it likes, because the government creates our money. The real constraint on government spending is price inflation, which occurs when government and private spending outpace economic output.

To read more, visit: http://www.cnbc.com/id/45765009

Tea Party raises fear of UN at Ocean County freeholder meeting

Posted: 22 Dec 2011 11:50 AM PST

By Erik Larsen | Asbury Park Press

TOMS RIVER — Conspiracy fears over a United Nations plot to establish a one-world government in which property rights can be voided, brought a dozen Tea Party activists to Wednesday's meeting of the Ocean County Board of Freeholders.

Specifically, Ocean County Tea Party members voiced concern with Gov. Chris Christie's strategic plan for targeting growth in New Jersey and the county's update of its own master development plan.

"I'm not attacking the need for planning and I'm not attacking the need for good environmental stewardship," said David Sharp, 75, of Waretown. "What I am concerned about … a thing called Agenda 21 that has crept into the policy making of many government agencies."

According to literature from the John Birch Society, Agenda 21 would mandate national service, control the size of families, reduce the amount of goods and services individuals can purchase and use, and virtually eliminate private ownership.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Army of loyal customers helps Organic Pastures owner Mark McAfee get vindictive raw milk quarantine lifted
Spying on Americans rising rapidly as warrantless use of undercover police, drones increases
Military may get faster airport screening
Local Cops Ready for War With Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons
Conservatives and Tea Party warming up to Ron Paul
Abercrombie: No new taxes, spending cuts in budget
Payroll Tax Politics Pose Risk for Congressional Republicans
Tea Party ‘Super PAC’ Going After Sen. Orrin Hatch

Army of loyal customers helps Organic Pastures owner Mark McAfee get vindictive raw milk quarantine lifted

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:47 AM PST

By Ethan A. Huff, NaturalNews

More than a month after the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) forced a recall and indefinite quarantine on all raw milk products produced by Organic Pastures Dairy (OPD), one of the nation’s largest raw dairy producers, the agency has finally relented in this particular battle against food freedom. With the help of his army of feverishly loyal customers, OPD owner Mark McAfee heroically put the rogue agency in its place by basically threatening to unleash the power of the people — and it worked.

When five children in California came down with E. Coli back in November, the CDFA went immediately after OPD without so much as a single piece of evidence linking the dairy’s products to the outbreak. Since raw milk could have been involved, the agency basically just decided that raw milk was the cause, and arbitrarily forced OPD to stop all production and just sit idly by while the agency dragged its feet in conducting tests after the fact. All the tests later turned up negative, of course.

But even after these tests all began to come back negative, one after another, the CDFA took its sweet time in lifting the ridiculous quarantine restrictions that had stopped OPD from running its business for over a month. Such outlandish “economic terrorism” is completely unwarranted and, by all accounts, illegal, but it is precisely how raw milk producers and their customers are treated all across the country on a regular basis.

Spying on Americans rising rapidly as warrantless use of undercover police, drones increases

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:44 AM PST

By J. D. Heyes, NaturalNews

There was a time when ordinary citizens still had an expectation of the right to privacy, even in public, but as technology has improved over the past generation, so has the government’s ability to get around the Constitution and the rule of law when it comes to keeping the common folk under surveillance.

We’re talking about more than just traffic light and city surveillance cameras. We’re talking about the use of undercover police to infiltrate otherwise peaceful groups, and employing drones to spy on citizens without proper legal authority to do so.

“There is no question that this could become something that people will regret,” said former U.S. Rep. Jane Harmon, D-Calif., on the use of federally owned drones by state and local police agencies. Harmon, a onetime chairperson of the House Intelligence Committee’s subcommittee on homeland security, said when federal agencies like Customs and Border Protection were first authorized by Congress to unarm Predator drones, use by local agencies was never discussed.

“Any time you have a tool like that in the hands of law enforcement that makes it easier to do surveillance, they will do more of it,” added Ryan Calo, director for privacy and robotics at the Stanford Law School’s Center for Internet and Society.

Military may get faster airport screening

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:40 AM PST

By LARRY MARGASAK, Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Members of the military on official travel, and their families, would move through airport security quicker next year under legislation sent to the president on Tuesday.

The House gave final congressional approval by voice vote.

If signed into law, the expedited screening would not take place immediately. The Homeland Security Department would have six months to devise a preference system for the armed forces. Some of the earliest beneficiaries likely would be troops returning from Afghanistan next year, and their family members.

The bill says military travelers must be in uniform and present their orders to get the expedited screening.

“An expedited, risk-based TSA screening process is the least we can do for our men and women in uniform and their families who sacrifice so much,” said chief sponsor Rep. Chip Cravaack, R-Minn.

Local Cops Ready for War With Homeland Security-Funded Military Weapons

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:37 AM PST

By Andrew Becker, The Daily Beast

Nestled amid plains so flat the locals joke you can watch your dog run away for miles, Fargo treasures its placid lifestyle, seldom pierced by the mayhem and violence common in other urban communities. North Dakota's largest city has averaged fewer than two homicides a year since 2005, and there's not been a single international terrorism prosecution in the last decade.

But that hasn't stopped authorities in Fargo and its surrounding county from going on an $8 million buying spree to arm police officers with the sort of gear once reserved only for soldiers fighting foreign wars.

Every city squad car is equipped today with a military-style assault rifle, and officers can don Kevlar helmets able to withstand incoming fire from battlefield-grade ammunition. And for that epic confrontation—if it ever occurs—officers can now summon a new $256,643 armored truck, complete with a rotating turret. For now, though, the menacing truck is used mostly for training and appearances at the annual city picnic, where it's been parked near the children's bounce house.

"Most people are so fascinated by it, because nothing happens here," says Carol Archbold, a Fargo resident and criminal justice professor at North Dakota State University. "There's no terrorism here."

Like Fargo, thousands of other local police departments nationwide have been amassing stockpiles of military-style equipment in the name of homeland security, aided by more than $34 billion in federal grants since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, a Daily Beast investigation conducted by the Center for Investigative Reporting has found.

Conservatives and Tea Party warming up to Ron Paul

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:33 AM PST

By Karl Dickey, West Palm Beach Libertarian Examiner

Congressman Ron Paul seems the perfect fit for true conservatives, however he was once considered the crazy uncle in the corner of the room. Now that his popularity has swelled putting him in the forefront of the GOP race for President of the United States, conservatives are taking another look. As Americans realized much of what he has been saying over the years has come true, they realize he may not be as crazy as once thought. Many in the GOP have despised Ron Paul and his supporters, however many are starting to carry a different tune. In the 2008 Presidential race, Paul was nearly laughed off the stage when he spoke about the economy and the blowback effect of our foreign policy.

Today, when speaking with several Tea Party members and GOP conservatives, I have found an ‘about face’ in their concerns over Ron Paul’s foreign policy views which has been the leading cause of conflict in the past. As more members of the Bush administration come out and are congruent with Paul’s views on how our foreign policy has developed unintended consequences, conservatives seem more interested in learning more about the candidate rather than the pablum being spoon-fed them by their leadership.

Abercrombie: No new taxes, spending cuts in budget

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:28 AM PST

By AUDREY McAVOY, Businessweek.com

Gov. Neil Abercrombie said Monday that the state won’t need to increase taxes or cut spending any further to balance the budget during the upcoming fiscal year. The state will also be able to pay back the rainy day fund that was used to balance the budget this year, he said.

Abercrombie attributed the state’s fiscal condition to decisions he and the Legislature made during the past year.

“We don’t have to deal with more cuts, we don’t have to deal with more threats of furloughs or anything like that because we’ve made those decisions. What we have to do is stick to them now,” Abercrombie said at a news conference on his budget for the 2013 fiscal year that begins in July.

Legislative leaders cheered the governor’s announcement.

“I’m really happy and elated that there is no proposal for next year by the administration on any tax increases,” said House Speaker Calvin Say, D-St. Louis Heights-Wilhemina Rise.

Payroll Tax Politics Pose Risk for Congressional Republicans

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:24 AM PST

By Heidi Przybyla, BusinessWeek.com

A rare showdown between House and Senate Republicans over a temporary extension of the payroll tax cut poses a political threat to the party's members on both sides of the Capitol heading into the 2012 elections.

It feeds into President Barack Obama's campaign narrative that House Republicans' obstructionism has resulted in a do- nothing Congress at a time when middle-class Americans need help in a struggling economy. At the same time, it fuels Tea Party opposition to Senate Republicans who teamed with Democrats to pass a two-month extension instead of a longer-term fix.

"The Republican leadership knows that this is potentially a very serious political liability," said Ron Bonjean, a Republican strategist and former director of communications for former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. "Democrats can use it as a weapon against them in the coming election year," said Bonjean, who predicted that House Republicans will ultimately agree to a deal.

Republican senators such as Richard Lugar of Indiana are already coming under fire from local Tea Party activists like Monica Boyer, who said Lugar's support for a temporary extension is "just kicking the can down the road."

"There's just so much that's building up and so much anger on the ground," she said. "He doesn't listen to us" and "it is 100 percent why we are going after him and why we've had enough," said Boyer, co-founder of Kosciusko County Silent No More, her local Tea Party Group.

Tea Party ‘Super PAC’ Going After Sen. Orrin Hatch

Posted: 21 Dec 2011 10:14 AM PST

By Josh Israel, NJToday.net

An outside spending group affiliated with the conservative Tea Party movement is targeting long-time Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch in 2012 for not being conservative enough.

FreedomWorks for America is a so-called "super PAC," meaning it can accept unlimited donations from corporations, individuals and labor unions and spend the funds on advertising and other expenditures aimed at electing or defeating a candidate.

On Tuesday, the group reported to the Federal Election Commission that it spent more than $43,000 on expenditures to oppose Hatch, including payments to a Utah communications firm for research, a D.C.-based polling firm, an Oregon-based yard sign manufacturer and a North Carolina online services company.

The group is affiliated with the conservative FreedomWorks 501(c4) nonprofit group, which also spends money on campaign advertising, but is not required to reveal its donors.

Ryan Hecker, a spokesman for the super PAC, told iWatch News the group opposes what it calls Hatch's support for increased federal government spending and support of the Department of Education and the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

The organization is required to reveal its donors, but is too new to file a report. The super PAC launched in September and promised a grass roots approach to organizing rather than a massive ad buy.

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

The speculative scrum driving up food prices
Branstad’s Act Of Sabotage An Outrageous Attempt To Tamper With Election Process
Genetically-modified salmon found to be contaminated with infectious salmon anemia
Internet Censor Bill Could Target Political Campaigns
Cedar Falls, IA Organizer Miffed at Campaigns Trying to ‘Hijack’ Tea Party
Tea Party wants in on Rose Parade

The speculative scrum driving up food prices

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:39 PM PST

From TheGuardian.CO.UK

Last year, the price of global food floated high as ever. That’s bad news for most of us, but not for those who trade commodities. In fact, 2011 was a great year for the traders, who thrive on bad news, currency woes, drought, flood, freeze, fire and all other manifestations of imminent apocalypse.

2011 was a wild ride. One spring morning, cocoa futures dropped 12% in less than a minute. Corn ascended to all-time peaks and sugar fluctuated more in one day than it used to in a month. Howard Schultz, CEO of Starbucks, railed against speculators in coffee, while PepsiCo forecast its own medium-term commodity cost increases to exceed $1bn. All of which meant a bumper crop for the world’s commodity exchanges – even those that used to be backwaters, like the Kansas City Board of Trade and the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, both of which recorded their highest electronic trading volumes in history.

It was a volatile year, and the volatility posed problems for the food industry. Faced with a high-stakes game of price-shifting basic ingredients, the world’s largest food processors and retailers put out the call for maths PhDs and economic modellers to theorise and implement ever-more complex risk-management strategies just so they could keep up with the second-by-second spikes and dips of grain and livestock futures. In the meantime, high-frequency traders and momentum-driven hedge funds made it their business to speculate on food.

There were plenty of ways to get in on the action, but as an increasingly complex amalgam of food-based commodity derivatives piled one on top of the other, the more difficult it became to perceive what it was that lay at the bottom of the speculative scrum. What drove the global food market in 2011 – other than those old faithfuls, fear and greed? I put in a call to Professor Yaneer Bar-Yam, of the New England Complex Systems Institute (Necsi), to see if he might have an answer.

Branstad’s Act Of Sabotage An Outrageous Attempt To Tamper With Election Process

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:35 PM PST

By Paul Joseph Watson & Alex Jones, Infowars.com

Iowa Governor Terry Branstad's rhetorical act of sabotage against his own state's Republican primary, with his insistence that a potential Ron Paul victory should be ignored, represents an outrageous attempt to tamper with the election process.

As we reported earlier, Branstad told Politico that a Paul victory in the primary should be dismissed, urging Republicans to ignore the legitimacy of the result if the Texan Congressman comes out on top, which recent polls suggest he has a very good chance of doing. Politico adds that many fear "such a result….would do irreparable harm to the future role of the first-in-the-nation caucuses."

"People are going to look at who comes in second and who comes in third," said Branstad, adding, ""If [Mitt] Romney comes in a strong second, it definitely helps him going into New Hampshire and the other states," comments taken to mean that Republicans should "ignore" Ron Paul, according to Politico's Jonathan Martin and Alexander Burns.

Branstad's comments represent a treasonous effort to delegitimize the veracity of his own state's primary. There are truly no depths to which establishment stooges like Branstad will sink in order to denigrate Ron Paul's campaign.

Genetically-modified salmon found to be contaminated with infectious salmon anemia

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:26 PM PST

By Ethan A. Huff, Natural News

As the US federal government continues to evaluate whether or not to approve AquaBounty’s genetically-modified (GM) “AquAdvantage” salmon, Canada’s Cohen Commission (CC), a group established by the nation’s government to track the decline of Sockeye salmon in the Fraser River, has announced some shocking information. According to a recent report, AquAdvantage being raised at a land-based, isolated site on Prince Edward Island have been found to be contaminated with Infectious Salmon Anemia (ISA), a serious viral disease that affects Atlantic salmon.

Catherine Stewart from the Living Oceans Society and Coastal Alliance for Aquaculture Reform recently gave an interview in which she explained the mysterious ISA discovery in the “Frankenfish.” According to the CC report, Canada’s Department of Fisheries and Oceans (DFO) reported to the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) back in 2009 that there had been an outbreak of ISA at the Prince Edward Island facility raising AquAdvantage salmon.

“I think we have to ask the question, ‘How did this get into this facility?’ This is a land-based, closed-tank system that’s raising these genetically-engineered fish,” said Stewart. “It could only have come through the eggs or the smolts, or through water that the facility pumps from the bay into their facility.”

Internet Censor Bill Could Target Political Campaigns

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:16 PM PST

By Stephen DeMaura and David Segal, Roll Call

During the waning days of the 2008 presidential race, there was an important but overlooked occurrence on the John McCain campaign. In mid-October, the McCain campaign awoke to find that its Web videos and online advertisements were disappearing from its YouTube page.

The culprit turned out to be a major television network claiming they owned portions of the videos and that posting the clips was a violation of copyright law. Even though the campaign, and many others in the online community, believed the content to be privileged under the "Fair Use Doctrine," the videos were pulled down.

Fast-forward more than three years, and a new piece of legislation is making its way through Congress that would make it easier for online campaign content and websites to be taken down. Even more concerning, if passed, this bill would allow opposing campaigns or campaign committees — not just the original content provider — to pull down websites harboring "infringing content."

The legislation that campaigns across the country should be concerned about is the Stop Online Piracy Act. The overarching goal of SOPA is a good one: Take aggressive steps to curb online copyright infringement. The problem is that the bill would create heavy-handed regulations that would blacklist legitimate websites without adequately addressing online piracy.

Here's a plausible campaign scenario under SOPA. Imagine you are running for Congress in a competitive House district. You give a strong interview to a local morning news show and your campaign posts the clip on your website. When your opponent's campaign sees the video, it decides to play hardball and sends a notice to your Internet service provider alerting them to what it deems "infringing content." It doesn't matter if the content is actually pirated. The ISP has five days to pull down your website and the offending clip or be sued. If you don't take the video down, even if you believe that the content is protected under fair use, your website goes dark.

Cedar Falls, IA Organizer Miffed at Campaigns Trying to ‘Hijack’ Tea Party

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:10 PM PST

By Alison Gowans, AmesPatch.com

With just two weeks until the Iowa caucuses, GOP presidential campaigns have stepped up efforts to snatch the still-divided Tea Party vote, hiring key Tea Party activists to lure support from local chapters.

The move has at least one local Tea Party organizer miffed, but others say the hirings are a smart move.

“I know that if you're trying to win a campaign, you have to do everything you can do to win,” said Cedar Valley Tea Party organizer Judd Saul, who recently endorsed Rick Santorum. “But it feels like another attempted hijacking of the Tea Party.”

Saul has watched as Tea Party leaders in early voting states have been scooped up by candidates, especially Newt Gingrich and Michele Bachmann.

Charlie Gruschow, also referred to as “Tea Party Charlie,” is both a local Tea Party leader and now a paid member of Gingrich’s Iowa campaign staff. He said he sees no conflict of interest between the two.

“I speak only for myself and not on behalf of the entire Tea Party movement,” he said.

Gruschow, who founded the Des Moines Tea Party two years ago and later co-founded the Tea Party of America, said he had been a Herman Cain supporter and volunteered with that campaign.

Tea Party wants in on Rose Parade

Posted: 20 Dec 2011 01:03 PM PST

By Brian Charles, Pasadena Star-News

PASADENA – TEAPAC, also known as the Pasadena Tea Party Patriots, has asked for permission to march in the Rose Parade, officials from the conservative political group said Tuesday.

With Occupy the Rose Parade planning to demonstrate and march in the parade, TEAPAC officials have asked the Tournament of Roses for the same consideration.

Occupy the Rose Parade plans to form a human float, an octopus with extended tentacles that represents the far reach of corporate America. The occupiers will also carry a 250-foot banner of The Constitution.

To read more, visit: http://www.pasadenastarnews.com/news/ci_19585831

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Paul’s Raw Milk Freedom Pitch Reflects Offbeat Campaign on Rise
Marines’ Robot Cargo-Copter Takes Flight in Afghanistan
Canadian judge rules SSRI antidepressants like Prozac can cause children to commit murder
Tea Partiers Not Happy With State of GOP Race
Ron Paul Tells Jay Leno Bachmann, Santorum Hate Muslims
Priest Nearly Arrested at Council Meeting for Exercising First Amendment
WH Blames “Tea Party Revolt” For Likely Rejection Of Payroll Tax Cut

Paul’s Raw Milk Freedom Pitch Reflects Offbeat Campaign on Rise

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:45 PM PST

By Julie Hirschfeld Davis, Bloomberg.com

When about 500 voters packed into a New Hampshire town hall last week to hear Ron Paul speak, they saved their biggest applause for something no other Republican presidential candidate is talking about.

"I would like to restore your right to drink raw milk anytime you like!" Paul said to loud and sustained cheers in the historic Peterborough Town House.

It was an emblematic moment for Paul's campaign, which is powered by his call for slashing federal government and expanding personal liberties, including the freedom to drink unpasteurized milk that the U.S. government brands "unsafe."

"We're fanatics," said 24-year-old Tristan Contas of Durham, New Hampshire, a recent college graduate who is planning to spend the week before the state's primary volunteering for Paul in a youth-driven push the campaign is organizing. "Young people don't like people telling them what to do — it's a certain rebellion against the authority that is our government – - and Dr. Paul really speaks to that."

Paul, 76, has attained cult-like status in his third run for the presidency. He is gaining in Republican primary polls in large part because of his penchant for saying things no one else in his party dares to, and not just about dairy products. He advocates auditing and then scrapping the Federal Reserve, withdrawing all U.S. troops from overseas war zones, and cutting $1 trillion in government spending in one year, including closing five federal agencies.

Marines’ Robot Cargo-Copter Takes Flight in Afghanistan

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:41 PM PST

By David Axe, Wired.com

Pakistan is still blockading NATO war supplies passing through the port of Karachi in response to last month's killing of 24 Pakistani soldiers by an alliance air strike. But inside Afghanistan, supply lines are about to get a lot safer for NATO's logisticians. On Saturday, the Marine Corps flew history's very first combat resupply mission using a robot helicopter. The unmanned Kaman K-MAX successfully hauled a sling-load of cargo out to an unspecified base, presumably somewhere in southern Afghanistan.

The successful first flight, plus a couple test runs earlier last week, "were in preparation for sustained operations," Jeffrey Brown from Lockheed Martin told Paul McLeary of Aviation Week. Lockheed has partnered with Kaman and the Marine Corps to demonstrate two of the unmanned supply choppers in combat.

The Marines' K-MAX is a pilotless version of a popular twin-rotor helicopter. The GPS-guided robo-K-MAX weighs in at just 2.5 tons, but can carry 3.5 tons of cargo some 250 miles. The K-MAX beat out Boeing's smaller A160 Hummingbird unmanned helicopter for the Marine Corps demonstration contract. And the Marines, Army, Navy and Air Force are all considering buying robot supply aircraft in large quantities.

The need is clear. The war in Afghanistan is highly dependent on flexible, reliable and secure logistics — even more than the just-ended Iraq war was. NATO troops are widely spread across rough terrain, interrupted by steep mountains, with few paved roads. Helicopters have to handle most of the final delivery for front-line supplies.

But the choppers and their crews are at risk of crashing or being shot down. Robot choppers remove the risk to the crews, and could potentially fly more frequently than manned rotorcraft, considering there is no requirement for crew rest. That's why the Department of the Navy brought the K-MAX to Afghanistan in October.

Canadian judge rules SSRI antidepressants like Prozac can cause children to commit murder

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:37 PM PST

By: Jonathan Benson, Natural News.com

The use of antidepressant and psychiatric drugs, particularly among children, is an extremely risky activity that could have fatal consequences for both the individuals that use them, as well as their friends and family. According to the National Post, a Canadian judge recently ruled that the extreme mind-altering effects of the antidepressant drug Prozac were in large part responsible for causing a 15-year-old boy to thrust a nine-inch kitchen knife into one of his closest friends.

Though the Winnipeg boy that committed the heinous crime had allegedly abused prescription drugs and “experimented” with cocaine long prior to the incident, he had never had a violent or aggressive personality about him, according to reports. It was only when he began taking Prozac, the very thing doctors had given him as a so-called “solution” to his previous illicit drug problems, that he began to rapidly go off the deep end.

“He had become irritable, restless, agitated, aggressive and unclear in his thinking,” said Justice Robert Heinrichs of the Manitoba Justice Department, who ruled on the case. “It was while in that state he overreacted in an impulsive, explosive and violent way. Now that his body and mind are free and clear of any effects of Prozac, he is simply not the same youth in behavior or character.”

What the judge appears to be implying here is that Prozac is directly responsible for altering the brain of a user and causing them to think irrationally, which in turn can cause them to harm themselves or others. In other words, if it were not for the use of this mind-warping drug, the murderer in this case most likely would never have dreamed of slaughtering one of his best friends.

Judge Heinrichs ultimately determined that, because of the drug’s involvement, the boy who murdered his friend would not be tried in an adult court. Even though the boy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, the judge only added a ten-month sentence on top of the two years that the boy had already spent in jail pending the trial — and there will apparently be no appeal, which is a first in any North American court.

In a similar outcome back in 2001, a Wyoming jury ruled that the antidepressant drug Paxil had caused a man to murder his wife, daughter, and granddaughter, after which he killed himself. And one of the mass-murderers in the infamous Columbine High School shooting, Eric Harris, had allegedly been taking the antidepressant drug Luvox at the time that he participated in the tragedy.

Tea Partiers Not Happy With State of GOP Race

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 03:33 PM PST

By Steve Peoples, Real Clear Politics

Just a year ago, tea party activists came roaring out of the congressional elections eager to shape the looming race for the White House. Things have not gone as planned.

Turned off by Mitt Romney’s style and evolution on several important issues, they have bounced from one candidate to another in hopes of finding a formidable alternative to the former Massachusetts governor to focus their enthusiasm.

After a series of disappointments—Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, Texas Gov. Rick Perry, and businessman Herman Cain among them—the anti-establishment movement has settled, for now, on a favorite: former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, even though he has spent more than three decades in Washington politics.

With the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3 and tea party support fractured at best, some activists worry that the passion that defined the movement 13 months ago may become lost in the selection of the next president.

Infighting among conservative groups, a growing sense of pragmatism, and glaring weaknesses among the candidates have forced some tea party leaders to acknowledge their limits and shift their attention to Congress.

“I wish that we had coalesced behind one candidate earlier on. It’s not because of the tea party movement, it’s because there hasn’t been that candidate out there so far that has stirred the passion—the fire in the belly,” said Amy Kremer, president of the Tea Party Express. “Everybody wants to focus on presidential politics. I think we need to be focused on the Senate. That’s where we really, really need to be engaged.”

Ron Paul Tells Jay Leno Bachmann, Santorum Hate Muslims

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 12:01 PM PST

By Kurt Nimmo, Infowars.com

On Friday night, candidate Ron Paul made an appearance on Jay Leno's television show. Leno asked Paul what he thought of his rivals. The Texas congressman said Romney and Gingrich are not presidential material and labeled Bachmann and Santorum as Muslim-haters.

On Sunday, Bachmann responded to Paul's comments. "I haven't heard that," she told Politico during a campaign stop in Iowa. "It's kind of an odd thing to say, I think. I think the Iranian threat is real. That doesn't mean that I hate the Muslim people."

She may not hate Muslims, but she is not shy about attacking them.

Bachmann said on NBC's Meet the Press last week that she "would have every alternative and option on the table" in response to Iran's unsubstantiated nuclear weapons program. She repeated the myth that Iran has stated it will nuke Israel if it gets a nuclear bomb.

"Because they have stated unequivocally, once they gain a nuclear weapon, they will use that weapon to wipe Israel off of the map and they will use it against the United States," she said.

Ahmadinejad was mistranslated by MEMRI, a pro-Israel propaganda outfit headed by a former Israeli military intelligence officer. The Iranian president said the the "regime occupying Jerusalem" (a Muslim holy city) "must [vanish from] the page of time," in other words he hoped the Israeli government would collapse. The establishment media has used this grossly mistranslated passage to insist Iran poses a threat not only to Israel, but also the United States.

Iran has not stated it will attack the United States, as Bachmann claimed during the debate last week. She also insisted the latest International Atomic Energy Agency report states that Iran is within months of having nuclear arms.

Priest Nearly Arrested at Council Meeting for Exercising First Amendment

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 11:55 AM PST

By Kurt Nimmo, Infowars.com

In Florida, if you make an unflattering comparison about the abuse of government authority during an open forum at a city council meeting, you may face the possibly of being "out of order" and subject to removal by police.

Father Nathan Monk of Pensacola, Florida, faced just such a situation on Friday when members of the city council there ruled him out of order.

Monk had not raised his voice or threatened anybody. He merely stated in no uncertain terms that the government violated the civil liberties of several citizens who had spoken in opposition to proposed anti-homeless ordinances earlier in the week.

The council took umbrage and had the citizens removed after they made comparisons between the ordinances and Heinrich Himmler's Final Solution.

"As Americans, we have the right to redress our government without fear of being arrested," said Monk. "Whether or not they're connecting dots from Hitler to George Wallace to Barney … you should be asking, 'well what are we doing that's allowing people to connect those dots?' It was a sick and gross abuse of power."

Council President Hall interrupted Monk. "Your time is up, sit down," he said.

"No, I have a minute and 12 seconds left," Monk said as he glanced at the timer on the speaker's lectern.

"I'm ruling you out of order," Hall said.

At that point the council had cops flank Monk.

WH Blames “Tea Party Revolt” For Likely Rejection Of Payroll Tax Cut

Posted: 19 Dec 2011 11:43 AM PST

White House communications director Dan Pfeiffer said it is a “Tea Party revolt” that would be responsible for the House rejecting a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut.

“Speaker Boehner’s position on Sunday was not the position that he had on Saturday when the 89 Senators came together to pass a two-month extension of the payroll tax cut. Let’s think on that. 89 Senators, the Republican leadership. You can’t get 89 votes in this day and age for apple pie, yet they all supported this. The did it with the understanding that the House would approve this two-month extension and Speaker Boehner got on the phone with his caucus, tried to sell it. He had a Tea Party revolt. He reversed his position and he’s now putting danger, a tax increase of a $1000 on 160 million Americans in like 12 days now,” Pfeiffer said on MSNBC.

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Food, drink tax touted to fund stadium
Ex-Freddie, Fannie CEOs Sued Over Loans
School District Bans Christmas Cookies, Cake, Candy, Soda
Internet architects oppose US online piracy bills
Two deaths from brain-eating amoeba linked to sinus remedy for colds
Tea Party fave Nikki Haley backs Romney
Tea party’s Mark Meckler arrested on gun charge

Food, drink tax touted to fund stadium

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:10 PM PST

By: ROCHELLE OLSON and KEVIN DUCHSCHERE , Star Tribune

Two Ramsey County commissioners sent a letter Thursday to key legislators saying a 3 percent countywide food and beverage tax is the “only viable financing plan” for a new Minnesota Vikings stadium.

Commissioners Tony Bennett and Rafael Ortega have been pushing for a $1.1 billion stadium on a former munitions site in Arden Hills. They touted their financing plan in a letter to state Rep. Morrie Lanning, R-Moorhead, and state Sen. Julie Rosen, R-Fairmont. They are the sponsors of stadium bills and have said they want to introduce a site-specific plan soon.

In a letter just more than a page long, the commissioners underlined two sentences: “This is the only viable financing plan on the table, and the only plan that would make the local share available immediately. Additionally, it is the only plan that has already been negotiated with the Vikings.”

Others, however, aren’t convinced it’s the way to go.

County Finance Director Lee Mehrkens first raised the plan in legislative hearings this month, but the concept received a tepid reception. Rosen, who couldn’t be reached for comment Thursday, said at that time those taxes were “not acceptable.”

The letter proposes a cocktail of “special local taxes on food and beverages, liquor, lodging, entertaining and admissions” to generate about $24 million a year to support $350 million in bonds. The commissioners attached a legal analysis saying the taxes would require only legislative authorization and a County Board vote — not a referendum of county voters.

Ex-Freddie, Fannie CEOs Sued Over Loans

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:06 PM PST

By David Glovin and Joshua Gallu,Bloomberg.com

Daniel Mudd, the former chief executive officer of Fannie Mae, and Richard Syron, ex-CEO of Freddie Mac, were sued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for understating by hundreds of billions of dollars the subprime loans held by the firms.

The lawsuits filed today in Manhattan federal court were followed by an SEC statement that it had entered into "non- prosecution agreements" with each company. Fannie Mae, the government-sponsored enterprise which issues almost half of all mortgage-backed securities, and Freddie Mac, the McLean, Virginia-based mortgage-finance company, had "agreed to accept responsibility" for their conduct, the SEC said.

The agency said in the lawsuits that Syron, Mudd and other executives understated exposure to subprime mortgage loans. From 2007 to 2008, Freddie Mac executives said the company's exposure was from $2 billion to $6 billion when it was actually as high as $244 billion, according to one SEC complaint.

From 2006 to 2008, Washington-based Fannie Mae executives said the firm's exposure to subprime mortgage and reduced- documentation loans was about $4.8 billion when it was almost 10 times greater, according to the regulator.

'Told the World'

"Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac executives told the world that their subprime exposure was substantially smaller than it really was," Robert Khuzami, director of the SEC's enforcement division, said in a statement. "These material misstatements occurred during a time of acute investor interest in financial institutions' exposure to subprime loans, and misled the market about the amount of risk on the company's books."

The lawsuits, which together name six former executives at the government-sponsored entities, come amid criticism from judges and lawmakers that the SEC hasn't done enough to hold individuals responsible for misconduct related to the housing crisis and financial-market collapse that followed.

School District Bans Christmas Cookies, Cake, Candy, Soda

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:03 PM PST

From: CBSBoston.com

Westford school officials are getting tough on classroom holiday parties.

They're banning sugary snacks and sweetened beverages from the celebrations this year.

Students are being told to leave the Christmas cookies, cakes, candy bars, and soda at home and to bring fruits, unsweetened juices, popcorn and raisins instead.

Superintendent Everett Olsen says the ban on holiday sweets has nothing to do with being politically correct, rather, his motive is simply promoting a healthy lifestyle.

"We aren't trying to take the Christmas out of Christmas. We're not trying to take the enjoyment out of children's lives. We're just trying to act responsible," he told WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Mike Macklin.

The school's goal is to avoid the types of sweets that pile on empty calories and contribute to childhood obesity.

Internet architects oppose US online piracy bills

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 01:00 PM PST

From: Breitbart.com

A group of prominent architects of the Internet added their voices Thursday to those opposing legislation in the US Congress intended to crack down on online piracy.

In an open letter to Congress, more than 80 engineers, inventors and software developers expressed concerns about the bills introduced in the Senate and the House of Representatives.

Their letter came a day after the founders of Google, Twitter, Yahoo! and other Internet giants voiced opposition to the Stop Online Piracy Act being considered in the House and the Senate version known as the Protect IP Act.

The legislation has received the backing of Hollywood, the music industry, the Business Software Alliance, the National Association of Manufacturers, the US Chamber of Commerce and other groups.

But it has come under fire from digital rights and free speech organizations for allegedly paving the way for US authorities to shut down websites accused of online piracy, including foreign sites, without due process.

“If enacted, either of these bills will create an environment of tremendous fear and uncertainty for technological innovation, and seriously harm the credibility of the United States in its role as a steward of key Internet infrastructure,” the Internet architects said in their letter.

Two deaths from brain-eating amoeba linked to sinus remedy for colds

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:53 PM PST

By CLAIRE BATES, Dailymail.co.uk

A sinus-flushing device used to relieve colds and allergies has been linked to a deadly brain-eating amoeba.

Louisiana’s state health department issued a warning about neti pots – which look like mini watering cans, that are used by pouring salty water through one nostril.

It follows two recent deaths – a 51-year-old woman and a 20-year-old man from the ‘brain-eating amoeba’ Naegleria fowleri.

It is thought the amoeba entered their brains when they used the devices.

Both victims are thought to have used tap water, instead of distilled or sterilised water as recommended by the manufacturers.

Dr Raoult Ratard, Louisiana State Epidemiologist, said: ‘If you are irrigating, flushing, or rinsing your sinuses, for example, by using a neti pot, use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution.

Tea Party fave Nikki Haley backs Romney

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:50 PM PST

By USA Today Feed

South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley endorsed Mitt Romney for president today, giving the GOP contender high-profile support from a Tea Party favorite in a key early state.

Haley, elected last year with help from the small-government movement, said on Fox News that Romney is "not part of the chaos" in Washington and has made key decisions as a governor and businessman that have created jobs.

"He knows what it means to make decisions-aareal decisions-aanot simply cast a vote," she said.

Tea Party support is highly coveted in the presidential election, given the movement's ability in the 2010 elections to sweep Republicans into office and demand focus on fiscal responsibility. Other GOP presidential hopefuls, notably Michele Bachmann and Rick Perry, have been aligned with the Tea Party for a long time.

Haley and Romney will campaign together over the weekend throughout South Carolina, which holds its primary on Jan. 21. Romney is about 20 points behind Newt Gingrich in South Carolina public opinion polls, but the outcome of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary will no doubt help tighten the race in the Palmetto State.

Romney's campaign also announced it would start advertising in South Carolina, using the "Leader" commercial that's been running in Iowa and New Hampshire. In that spot, Romney highlights is "steadiness and constancy" in his marriage and his career.

Tea party’s Mark Meckler arrested on gun charge

Posted: 16 Dec 2011 12:45 PM PST

From: CBSNews.com

A leader of a tea party group was arrested after he took a gun to LaGuardia Airport.

Tea Party Patriots co-founder Mark Meckler was taken into custody Thursday morning after he tried to check in for a Delta flight to Detroit with a locked gun box containing a Glock pistol and 19 cartridges of ammunition, Queens prosecutors said.

Meckler, 49, declared the weapon, as required, authorities said. He’s licensed to carry the gun in Grass Valley, Calif., where he lives, but that license isn’t valid in New York, which has strict rules on carrying concealed weapons, they said.

“He didn’t have a correct understanding of the law,” said Al Della Fave, a spokesman for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which polices the area’s main airports. “Though he has a permit to carry in California, that did not cover him in the state of New York.”

Meckler spent the day in jail and was arraigned in Queens late Friday afternoon on a felony weapons possession charge. He was released pending a Jan. 12 court date.

The charge could carry prison time, but travelers who are arrested in such cases and appear to be trying to comply with the law typically pay fines.

The name of Meckler’s attorney wasn’t available Friday, and attempts to contact him by phone and electronic message were unsuccessful.

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Friday, December 23, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Saturday, December 17, 2011

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

Rick Santelli's Chicago Tea Party

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