Anti-gun laws favor criminals

"There is no greater truism than, 'If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns.' I personally know dozens of men and women who own and/or legally carry firearms. They, and those like them, do not need more restrictions. They are not the ones committing crimes – just the opposite – they are among the most responsible people I know. Some are collectors of firearms, some are sporting enthusiasts, and others own and carry firearms for their personal protection. Why should they be singled out or lumped together under restrictive bans designed to curb crime that they already abhor?

"The corner grocer, bank tellers and law enforcement officers do not fear legitimate, responsible gun owners – they fear criminals and gang members with guns. And further to the point, legislatures can pass all the anti-gun legislation they want – criminals will still get guns and use them."

Time for Congressional Black Caucus to disband

"The Herald's scathing editorial continued: 'If only the group had met with even one prisoner of conscience or one of the wives, mothers, daughters or sisters of the 75 independent journalists, librarians and human-rights advocates imprisoned in Cuba's "Black Spring" of 2003. … Or the seven could have traveled three hours from Havana to see the hunger-striking dissidents led by Jorge Luis Garcia 'Antunez' Perez in Placetas. Or they could have asked to see Oscar Elias Biscet, a doctor serving 25 years in prison for following the peaceful resistance of Martin Luther King Jr. … Or what of the mothers of three young men who were tried in a day and killed the next by firing squad in 2003 for trying to hijack a ferry from Havana Harbor? No passenger was hurt, but that didn't stop the Cuban government from sending a swift and terrifying message to the country's Afro-Cuban masses."

"And as the Washington Post, another major liberal newspaper, editorialized: (Rep. Barbara Lee said that) '"Cubans do want dialogue. They do want talks." Funny, then, that in five days on the island the Congress members found no time for dialogue with Afro-Cuban dissident Jorge Luis Garcia Perez. … Mr. Garcia, better known as "Antunez," is a renowned advocate of human rights who has often been singled out for harsh treatment because of his color. "The authorities in my country," he has said, "have never tolerated that a black person (could dare to) oppose the regime." His wife, Iris, is a founder of the Rosa Parks Women's Civil Rights Movement, named after an American hero whom Afro-Cubans try to emulate. The couple have been on a hunger strike since Feb. 17, to demand justice for an imprisoned family member.'

"Apparently, it is black Americans that the CBC cares about, not black Cubans. And the CBC calls itself 'the conscience of the Congress since 1971'!

"Before the CBC further embarrasses the civil rights movement, black America, the Democratic Party and the United States of America, it should consider disbanding."

Disagree with Obama? Gov't has eyes on you

"So, if you disagree with Obama on amnesty for illegals or stand up for the Second Amendment, you are branded a 'rightwing extremist' by the Department of Homeland Security and become the subject of scrutiny by some 850,000 local and state law enforcement personnel.

"The assessment goes on to link concerns about the economy, and the stockpiling of emergency food supplies and weapons and ammunition to violent militias and extremist "rightwing" groups. In my state of California, the state government urges all citizens to keep emergency food supplies in case of earthquake. And who isn't concerned about the economy?

"Most disgusting of all, it targets veterans for increased law enforcement scrutiny.

"'Returning veterans possess combat skills and experience that are attractive to rightwing extremists. DHS/I&A is concerned that rightwing extremists will attempt to recruit and radicalize returning veterans in order to boost their violent capabilities.'"

Legal left cools toward Obama

"A growing chorus on the legal left is cooling toward President Barack Obama as a result of recent actions by the Justice Department vigorously defending the Bush administration in what it termed the war on terror.

“'Obama Position on Illegal Spying: Worse Than Bush,' a large graphic declared over the weekend on the home page of a respected group advocating freedom on the Internet, Electronic Frontier Foundation.

"Obama has been pilloried by a liberal TV icon who was one of President George W. Bush’s most vociferous critics, MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann.

“'During his run for the presidency, Barack Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, argued strongly against the Bush administration’s use of executive authority, including its self-justification, its rationalization of the warrantless wiretapping of American citizens,” Olbermann said on his show last week. “That was then. This is now. ... Welcome to change you cannot believe in — or sue over.'

"Obama is also under withering attack from an attorney who was one of the most widely read critics of Bush’s legal strategy in the war on terror, Glenn Greenwald. He recently blasted Obama administration moves as 'extremist' and 'bizarre.'

“'Reading this brief from the Obama DOJ is so striking — and more than a little depressing — given how indistinguishable it is from everything that poured out of the Bush DOJ regarding secrecy powers in order to evade all legal accountability,' he wrote on Salon last week, before calling his fellow civil libertarians to rise up. 'It is simply inexcusable for those who spent the last several years screaming when the Bush administration did exactly this to remain silent now or, worse, to search for excuses to justify this behavior,' he said."

The definition for that behavior is:

A. Hyponosis

B. Hypocrisy

C. Hypodermic

D. Hippopotamus

Choose the best answer.

As Time Goes By

"This is not the man I voted for. My liberal friends and I felt disappointment, even betrayal, after Clinton's election, when welfare reform and NAFTA suddenly became administration priorities, but Obama's transformation into the guardian of the Star Chamber eclipses that by an order of magnitude."

Still love those comments:

Chad:

"I know that plenty of people out there think it's just fine for our government to throw out the Constitution as long as it's claiming to protect us from terrorism, but there are a heck of a lot of people who don't feel that way, and who were quite vocal about it when President Bush was in office. (As well they should have been, of course.)

"The silence of those voices right now, save for Greenwald and Tapper and a few others, is deafening."

A note on responsible travel to Cuba

This is from a general travel website:

"Cuba is a totalitarian and repressive state. It's citizens have few rights, and are currently not allowed to travel abroad. By staying in government owned resorts (most of the hotels and resorts in Cuba are owned by the government) you're helping to prop up an oppressive, human rights abusing regime.

"My advice if you do travel to Cuba, would be to do so responsibly - and one of the most responsible ways to visit Cuba is to stay in Casa Particulares on your travels - these are family homes that have been converted to accommodate tourists. By booking such Casa Particulares your money is not going straight into the hands of an oppressive regime that undoubtdely needs to be changed. By booking an all inclusive package holiday, you're invariably contributing to the governments coffers. Travel responsibly - leave your money with the locals, not the local regime."

Look into Castro's eyes and you still won't find the truth about racial disparity

"By now it should be dawning on the seven U.S. legislators who got the red-carpet tour last week -- including six members of the Black Caucus -- that first impressions can be unreliable. Three members of the delegation were granted a rare audience with the ailing Fidel Castro. "He looked directly into my eyes," said Rep. Laura Richardson, D-Calif., 'and then he asked: "How can we help President Obama?" Fidel Castro really wants President Obama to succeed.'

"No, he really doesn't. As it happened, Castro quickly demonstrated that he doesn't even wish the delegation well, let alone the current occupant of the White House. After the meeting, Castro issued a statement claiming that one of his visitors had said the United States should 'apologize' to Cuba and that another had said U.S. society is still 'racist.' Members of the delegation denied that any such exchanges had taken place -- and I believe them. It is in Castro's interest to sabotage any genuine movement in Washington toward normalized relations, because any lessening of tension would destroy the government's stated rationale for denying Cubans basic political freedoms: that any opening would be exploited by the imperialist enemy to the north. It is also in Castro's interest to portray the United States as irredeemably racist -- unlike Cuba under the tutelage of the revolution.

"In 10 reporting trips to the island, I have met Afro-Cubans who told me with conviction that they have had opportunities under the Castro regime -- especially in health and education -- that would have been unimaginable before the revolution. But I've also heard bitter complaints about deep-seated racism that many black Cubans believe is getting worse.

"Race is a touchy subject in Cuba, and for many years it went all but unmentioned. Raul Castro, who knows the island and its people as well as his older brother does, caused a stir in 2000 when he said that if a hotel were to deny entry to a person because he or she is black, that hotel should be shut down -- an acknowledgement that such things happen. Popular rappers in Cuba's hip-hop underground have made racial grievance a major theme of their daring lyrics. I once interviewed a Cuban scholar whose husband, an officer in the military, pooh-poohed her research into racial discrimination -- until he had the experience of being detained and harassed by police for no apparent reason other than his dark skin.

"Even without meeting with any of the well-known black dissidents on the island, the visitors from Washington could have observed that the work force in Cuba's burgeoning tourism industry -- arguably the most privileged class, since waiters and cab drivers receive tips in hard currency, which allows them a standard of living far beyond what is possible with Cuban pesos and government rations -- is disproportionately white.

"Members of the Black Caucus are, quite properly, quick to notice such insults and disparities at home. Maybe they were too busy looking into Fidel's eyes."

Prisoners testify to the truth about Cuba

"As long as there are political prisoners in Cuba, there is no liberty in Cuba, no matter how much Raúl Castro talks about shaking up the system or implementing economic reforms. His goal is not to reduce repression, just to make it more efficient in order to continue the dictatorship.

"As long as there are political prisoners in Cuba, that truth about the Castros and their regime will be there for the world to see.

"If it only dares to look.

"Whether it's Fidel or Raúl holding the keys, nothing changes for the prisoners of conscience in the Castro dungeon. The suffering only increases.

"Just ask Rolando Jiménez, José Ferrer and Francisco Diaz, who recently were targeted for especially brutal attention by their jailers."

THE LAST AMERICANS

"As for those of you who’ve read some or even all of the above and still believe I’m exaggerating our current state of affairs, please let me point out a few things. Many of you may have read my first NWVs article, The Seven Deadly Sins of Public Education. I know you did because several hundred of you have written me and thanked me for saying what’s wrong with 'some' public schools. As I told you then, not all public schools are practicing all of the Seven Deadies, but some schools are indeed up to their eyeballs in Big Brother’s prole producing teaching strategies, and all schools are using some of these anti-learning devices. Public schools are NOT failures. They’re doing exactly what they were designed to do – dumb down the masses, so they can be more easily managed! If you have a child in a public school, please get him or her out."

Keep Hope Alive!

Bob Hope
May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003

It didn't work.

Commentary: Obama, aided by media, falling short on pledge for change

"Candidate Obama promised to end earmarks in legislation which leads to pork barrel spending. In the middle of March, President Obama signed the spending bill so government could continue to fund its programs and included in this spending bill was all the former earmarks and pork barrel spending intact. President Obama's explanation: since this spending bill was a carry over from the previous administration he would not cut the earmark spending, but this would be the last time he would include those earmarks and lawmakers were going to have to learn to be more fiscally responsible in future spending bills. No change.

"Candidate Obama campaigned for a quick withdrawal of troops from Iraq. President Obama promised troops would be out of Iraq by the end of 2011-which is the date that was previously agreed to by the United States and Iraq in the former administration. No change.

"Candidate Obama promised action to get the economy going in the positive direction. President Obama urges patience as he works on the problems of the economy left to him by the previous administration. No change.

"There is one change that I have noticed since that historical day in January and it is the treatment that President Obama receives from the media.

"The purpose of the press is supposed to be to report the news in an objective manner to the public. Once reporters start adding their own personal perspectives to the story it is hard for the public to trust the accuracy and objectivity of the reporting and it starts to become similar to entertainment reporting.

"It is worse when the press underreports or down plays newsworthy items. An example would be the increase troops in Afghanistan. (Isn't that called a "surge"? -- Robert)

"If I had not been watching the news on that particular day, I would not have even known about it. It should make you think about how many other stories are fluffed over as a small side note on the evening news when they should really be headline."

Very Bad News: Afghanistan's Bagram Air Base Will Be Obama's Guantanamo

"Less than a month after signing an executive order to close the Guantanamo Bay prison camp, President Barack Obama has quietly agreed to keep denying the right to trial to hundreds more terror suspects held at a makeshift camp in Afghanistan that human rights lawyers have dubbed 'Obama's Guantanamo.'"

and

"Tina Foster, executive director of the International Justice Network, the New York human rights organisation representing the detainees, warned last night that 'by leaving Bagram open, the administration turns the closure of Guantanamo into essentially a hollow and symbolic gesture.'"

Empty Promises on School Vouchers

"These new findings come on the heels of positive empirical findings for Milwaukee vouchers the week before and build on a large body of high-quality previous research consistently finding the same thing. If evidence were going to decide the voucher debate, there wouldn’t be a debate any more."

Love those comments:

DavidN:

"This is a really simple issue. The Democrats, frankly, are racists on this one, though no one will call them on it. Barack Obama sends his girls to a pricey private school, but takes steps to make certain that those who can’t afford the $30K/year tuition don’t have the same opportunity. Some of his supporters actually call those who support vouchers racist, usually because of the devastation they’d supposedly inflict on the public school system and its teacher contingent, which is heavily minority. Interestingly, Ariana Huffington, last I heard, sends her kids to private school also, but advocates that those who can’t afford it should be forced to send their kids to public schools, even when the schools are failing. The whole thing is ridiculous, and incredibly hypocritical."

Kansas City Star columnist calls for racial and political profiling

"The Kansas City Star writer is calling for restrictions on the rights of individuals who oppose abortions, open borders, socialism or federal control over the economy, environment and law enforcement.

"Sanchez says Missouri law enforcement would be 'negligent' if they did not have contingency plans for identifying and controlling anyone who does not support open borders, tax payer funded abortions, elimination of Second Amendment Rights and a myriad of other big government programs popular with self absorbed control freaks.

"Employing the tactics of history’s worst tyrants and mass murderers Sanchez fans fears of 'race wars' claiming Americans will go crazy because of unemployment and the high cost of living.

"Her promotion and use of collectivism aka racism to call for the persecution and disenfranchisement of individuals who look different, pray different, or hold different political views than she does are even more radical than the tyrannical anti civil rights policies of the Bush Cheney lead Trotskyite neocons. And I didn’t think that was even possible but Sanchez has proven me wrong with her calls for political, religious and racial cleansing by Missouri law enforcement."

Barney Frank: A Cowardly Hater

"Despite stiff competition, Representative Barney Frank may be the most incompetent and corrupt member of Congress. His failed romance with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac helped bring about the current mortgage crisis and fiasco. Moreover, he has never acknowledged guilt or displayed shame regarding anything he has done."

Yet More Enthusiasm for Obama

"And I was extremely disappointed in Obama when he not only insisted on maintaining the warrantless wiretapping on Americans and associated secrecy that the Bush Administration pressed for, but actually argued that the secrecy should be expanded. I lost a ton of respect for Obama over that... and we're just 80 or so days into his administration. "

Jesse Jackson crying ...Obama... funny... by GloZell

The Earnings Suspense File: Social Security's "Secret Stash" "Money from Nowhere" Fattens Government Accounts

"Have you ever wondered what happens to all the money collected for Social Security that beneficiaries don't get?

"What happens to the money assigned to people using false identities, or names matched with the wrong Social Security Number (SSN), or newlyweds who forgot to register their name changes with the Social Security administration?

"The answer lies in a little-known aspect of the Social Security behemoth known as the Earnings Suspense File (ESF).

"The ESF has become a hotbed for debate over everything from immigration rights to identity theft, as it continues to accrue money at roughly $6 billion a year, with the total as of 2005 sitting at $519 billion.

"As MSNBC reporter Bob Sullivan put it in an interview with ConsumerAffairs.com, the ESF is part of a 'grand mystery,' wherein money seems to disappear. But where does the money come from, what happens to it, and why isn't more being done about the problem?"

Yet Another Satisfied Obama Voter

"When are you Black folks going to get a backbone and some integrity in being unbiased? I'm Black, very disappointed in Obama thus far and sense he feels he can smile and talk and smooth over any criticism whatsoever, we're enamored with him, he can do no wrong. To that I say 'Negro Please'. (1) He & his administration knew, his boy Chris Dodd wrote in the bailout guaranteeing the bonuses for the Wall St. crowd. In fact Obama dished over to Wall Street Billions with no conditions whatsoever. Meanwhile he takes a much more shrewd eye and control employing conditions to Detroit. Obama clearly had 2 sets of standards, 1 for Detroit, 1 for Wall Street. Blacks refuse to place the lens of scrutiny on Obama and this inconsistency. Obama is all hype, it's clear he thinks he can wink and smile and win you over, sans any meaningful substance that's different than any predecessor. Obama = Stooge to Wall Street (Jews) and Stooge to Israel (as we see) Negro Puppet to the power, just like any previous President. I see no Change, I see Obama preserving power and wealth to Wall Street, I see a guy ridiculing special needs kids on Jay Leno, I see a Negro Buffoon Clown. Sorry, the more enlightened intelligent Black folks require more than just a wink and a smile. It's the Negro fools that can be duped, sucked in with the smile. Wake me when Obama does something different or actually delivers on his pre election talk. I understand Black folks are spellbound and intent on defending Obama no matter what, but there must be some point wherein you other Blacks stand for something? Demand Change?"

Worse than Bush

Seems like a Conservative point of view:

"I am sure that most college students who voted for Barack Obama never turned the news on again after the 2008 election. I know that their vote was the political equivalent to a one-night stand. How do I know this? Because these people who voted for Obama went around talking about how George W. Bush was the worst President of all-time - a monster, a liar, a warmonger - but are silent when Obama begins to take and defend Bush's policies.

"Either these students had no principles, or they abandoned them completely once the candidate of Oprah and chic took power.

"Barack Obama is continuing Bush's 'War on Terror' almost as aggressively as Bush did, and in some cases even more aggressively. First, Obama closed Guantanamo Bay and retired the term 'enemy combatant' at Guantanamo Bay, but has kept it all over the world; last week, a federal court rebuked him by ruling that he cannot keep 'enemy combatants' at the Bagram Airfield in Afghanistan forever (Slate Magazine, "Czar Obama").

"He also went before the Court of Appeals for the ninth Circuit to push for the power to make it possible for trials to be dismissed, despite the graphic content, to protect 'state secrets.' In addition he is fighting to support NSA wiretapping, just like Bush.

"ABC News noted that while Obama was in Europe last week, his Justice Department sought to have Jewel v. NSA dismissed because 'the Court lacks subject matter jurisdiction with respect to plaintiffs' statutory claims against the United States because Congress has not waived sovereign immunity' and 'because information necessary to litigate plaintiffs' claims is properly subject to and excluded from use in this case by the state secrets privilege and related statutory privileges' (ABC News, 'On State Secrets').

"This is what his administration has come to. Obama: Kenyan for Bush.

"This article is titled 'Worse than Bush.' That might be foolish to say. It might be better to say: 'Obama Needs Bush to Succeed.' Or maybe 'Obama Follows Bush,' which would be literally and metaphorically true. The point is that few people are noticing the fact that Obama is acting as if he were George W. The question is "why?"

"The answer is simple and bodes well for Bush's legacy: it's easy to whine and cry about how Bush's policies were bad for the country and he can do better, but the truth is that Bush did what Bush had to do, and now Obama is doing the same thing because it's the right thing to do. (And they were scared that McCain would be like Bush -- Robert). I wonder if college kids will ever call Obama again."

Yet Another Enthusiastic Obama Supporter

"u finally betrayed me obama ~vanitys sin~"

Obama Administration Endorses Continued Spying on Americans -- Justice Department Moves to Squash NSA Spying Suits

"Since fatuously declaring his to be a 'change' administration, President Barack Obama has quickly donned the blood-spattered mantle of state secrecy and executive privilege worn by the Bush regime.

"On Friday April 3, the Department of Justice filed a motion to dismiss one of the Electronic Frontier Foundation's (EFF) landmark lawsuits against illegal spying by the National Security Agency (NSA)."

and

"Arguments in San Francisco federal district court by U.S. Attorneys have been described by constitutional law experts as being 'worse than Bush.' In their motion to dismiss Jewell, the Obama administration cited the same perverse logic of the previous regime: that the state secrets privilege requires the court to dismiss the issue 'out of hand.'"

Obama Puppy A Portugese Water Dog Named "Bo"

My President's Dog is Black!

I know he is white and black. That means the dog is black, just like our president!

Obama Moves To Legalize Warrantless Wiretapping!

Way to go, Keith! Now name Barack Obama "The Worst Person in the World."

I knew this would happen months ago.

Yet Another Satisfied Obama Supporter

"I can't believe this. Obama is becoming a Traitor to his own supporters. I'll admit I voted for him, and yes now I am beginning to regret it. This is Outrageous! I fell for the empty rhetoric and slogans, he is continuing Bush policies. Gerald Celente and Jesse Ventura were right."

"I'm Disappointed in Obama "

"Obama isn't going to change things like I hoped. This is really disappointing. I thought he'd at least stand up for the Constitution."

Obama Continues Attack on Habeas-Corpus

"Obama is continuing Bush's attach on our Constitution. This is so disappointing."