The Corrs & The Chieftains - I Know My Love

Rumer - Aretha

2 Soros Events Aim to Remake...

Two George Soros Events Aim to Remake the Financial Order and the Media -- So Where's the Reporting?

-By Dan Gainor, Published April 06, 2011 - FoxNews.com
Now that is change you can believe in. Sadly, those who actually report the news must believe in it because they sure as heck aren’t reporting on Soros or either event. And that’s even though staffers or even executives from Reuters, the Financial Times, NPR, PBS, The Washington Post and other major media outlets are speaking at one event or the other.

The first gathering in Bretton Woods, N.H., is an economic conference Soros once described as “a grand bargain that rearranges the entire financial order.” In October 2009, Soros committed $50 million to the Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET). A week later, the glib lefty investor wrote a column calling for a new Bretton Woods event, to recreate the one that helped design the post-WWII economy. Only he wants this one to knock America down a peg or three.

Now, it's been a little over a year later and the group he funded is making King George’s wish come true – bringing together a whole slew of important people to discuss how to change the global economy. In Soros speak, that means “establish new international rules” and “reform the currency system.”

The announced speakers include a lot of prominent lefties, globalists and economists on the board of the organization he has throwing the event – more than two-thirds of the overall total have ties to Soros. To underscore their connection to history, INET is hosting the conference at the Mount Washington Resort, the very same hotel that held the first gathering.

INET Executive Robert Johnson defended his event in a March 31 interview with Lou Dobbs. Johnson, a former managing director at Soros Fund Management, who is on the Board of Directors for the Soros-funded Economic Policy Institute, avoided saying “Soros” despite Dobbs mentioning Johnson’s boss several times. In his last response, he tried to rationalize the Soros connection, by saying “I have a group of funders including George Soros.” With $50 million, Soros alone makes a pretty big group. Of course, Soros will also be speaking in Bretton Woods about “The Emerging Economic and Political Order.”

Just down the road in Boston, a Soros-funded media conference is trying to manipulate that emerging order as well. Close to 350 left-wingers from a variety of organizations are gathering there for the National Conference for Media Reform.

That “change the world” conference includes two commissioners from the FCC, House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi, Sen. Bernie Sanders, four Democratic representatives, the head of Columbia University, and assorted left-wing journalist types, from Salon’s Glenn Greenwald to disgraced former MSNBC host David Shuster, who now works for a Soros-funded investigative operation.

The rest of the list reads like a "Who’s Who" of left-wing organizations and talking heads, including the president of PBS, a senior vice president with American Public Media, an Al Jazeera English executive, the president of the Newspaper Guild – CWA and Washington Post columnist Rob Pegoraro. Many others have Soros connections, such as: (read on)

GUIDE TO THE GEORGE SOROS NETWORK 

Busting Some Econo-myths

Under Ryan's plan, spending will STILL rise. Yet they call it "extreme".


“I always use the word extreme,” Schumer told Sens. Barbara Boxer, Benjamin Cardin, Thomas Carper and Richard Blumenthal. “That is what the caucus instructed me to use this week."

Eagles Nest w/ Eaglets (LIVE)

Broadcasting Live with Ustream.TV
The Raptor Resource Project brings you the Decorah Eagles from atop their tree at the fish hatchery in Decorah, Iowa.


The live video feed is streamed online 24/7. At night an infrared light provides night vision to viewers through the cam. Infrared light is not visible to eagles, they do not see it or know it is there.
 [Lens was wet at time of post...and daddy may be out fising or hunting]

"Fine, What's Yours?"

Got a Better Plan? 

 Rich Lowry, National Review Online, April 8, 2011 12:00 A.M. - If Democrats think the Ryan budget is too radical, let them offer a credible alternative.

One of House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan’s favorite phrases is “adult conversation.” As in, we need to have an adult conversation about the nation’s fiscal challenges. With the release of his budget resolution, Ryan is beginning the discussion even if his purported conversational partners on the other side of the aisle insist on banging their cups on their highchairs and wailing.

Three inescapable realities drive the federal budget: We spend too much on health care, we are growing older, and we face an alarming federal debt. Ryan is daring to tell the country how he’d react to this in a stark instance of reality-based budgeting. His implicit challenge to those who reject his solution is, “Fine, what’s yours?”

Health-care costs are far outpacing inflation, and Medicare is growing at twice the rate of the economy. The two trends are related: Medicare’s blank-check payment system contributes to soaring medical costs. Beginning in 2022, Ryan would give new Medicare beneficiaries a subsidy to buy their own insurance. It would bring consumer choice and competitive pressure to an area sorely lacking them. Maybe you think this reform of Medicare — which has an ungodly unfunded liability over the next 75 years — is too radical. Fine, what’s yours?

As we age as a society, the burden of maintaining our old-age entitlements falls more heavily on young workers. The Ryan budget notes that in 1950, 16.5 workers supported each Social Security recipient. In 2000, it was 3.4 workers. In 2040, it will be 2.1. Ryan’s budget would force the president, working with Social Security’s trustees, to submit a proposal to right the program’s fiscal balance. This path might strike you as too timid — or too bold. Fine, what’s yours?

The Ryan budget controls federal spending and brings it below 20 percent of GDP by 2015. It reduces the deficit $4.4 trillion compared with Pres. Barack Obama’s budget over the next ten years and reaches so-called primary balance — a balanced budget outside of interest payments on the debt — by 2015. Obama would keep adding to the debt at a prodigious clip, almost doubling it from its current $14 trillion to $26 trillion over ten years. Perhaps Ryan’s method of controlling the debt is not to your liking. Fine, what’s yours?

Ryan keeps tax revenue at the historic level of roughly 18 percent, and brings both the top personal and the top corporate tax rates down to 25 percent while eliminating deductions and loopholes. This reform — designed to make the tax code simpler and more pro-growth — might strike you as “unfair.” Fine, what’s yours? (read entire article here)

"House Budget chairman Paul Ryan (R., Wis.) must have been one of those elementary-school kids who spent recess fine-tuning his homework while the other boys and girls climbed trees and yanked each other’s hair. Little has changed as many of those children won congressional seats. They are older, but hardly wiser." - Deroy Murdock

Insane Muslims Score

Petraeus Misfires on Quran Burning

By DOROTHY RABINOWITZ  WSJ.COM

“Mobs murder more than 20 innocents in the name of God—and the commander of Afghan forces rebukes a publicity-hungry pastor in Florida.

“So it would appear at least from the response by Gen. David Petraeus, who delivered an impassioned rebuke of a publicity-hungry Florida pastor who had presided over the mock trial and burning of a Quran on March 20. This act was, the general declared in a video statement over the weekend, "hateful, extremely disrespectful, and enormously intolerant." It had endangered American troops. He wanted, he announced, to condemn it in the strongest possible terms.

“No one listening could doubt it. The general would go on to say more, but nowhere in any of that condemnation was it possible to find a mention of the merciless savagery that had taken place in the name of devotion to God and the Quran. Mark Sedwill, the NATO senior civilian representative who joined Gen. Petraeus in the statement, did manage to find a moment to murmur in passing that, of course, condolences were due to "everyone who has been hurt in the demonstrations."

“In an interview Sunday in this newspaper, Gen. Petraeus reflected further on the problems caused by burning the Quran and how mobs could be influenced by those who might have an interest in hijacking passions—"in this case, perhaps, understandable passions."

“To this the only sane response is no. They are not understandable, these passions that so invariably find voice in mass murder, the butchery of imagined enemies like the people hunted down in the U.N. office Friday, and of everyone else the mobs encountered who might fit the bill. We will not prevail over terrorism and the related bloodlust of this fundamentalist fanaticism as long as our leading representatives, the military included, are inclined to pronounce its motivations as "understandable."

“It should be said that President Obama, to his credit, went on to declare, after denouncing the Quran burning, that to kill innocent people in response is "outrageous and an offense to human decency and dignity." It should be said, too, that it's a bleak commentary on the prevailing political atmosphere that the president's public recognition of the horrors committed by those rampaging soldiers of Islam should seem noteworthy.

“Still, it was. And it came as a relief, after so much handwringing, all of it focused on the Florida pastor and the likelihood that he may have endangered American troops. (The same was said about the danger to American troops when Newsweek published a false report, in 2005, that American interrogators had flushed a Quran down the toilet—an event which set off days of rioting and bloodshed in Afghanistan and elsewhere.)

“By making no mention of the perpetrators of the current massacres—while managing to suggest they were understandably driven to their action—Gen. Petraeus doubtless believed he was taking the appropriate politic path. It's a path that's unquestionably familiar—called appeasement—and one whose usual outcome is also familiar.

Displays of cringing deference to the forces loosed on the streets of Afghanistan over the weekend will not strengthen the American mission. They will stiffen the spines of the jihadists. Such displays count as victories, reassuring indicators that the threat of terrorism—mob terrorism, in this case—continues to work its wonders as a weapon of war. The sort that could send the commanding general of U.S forces in Afghanistan and a NATO official into swoons of apology while denouncing the pastor's act. For a moment there during their joint statement it seemed altogether possible that one or another of them might begin rending his garments.

“That none of these emotional proclamations included any judgment, moral or otherwise, about the criminality of the zealots who had just taken so many lives, speaks volumes to those at war with us—all of it encouraging to them. Something to consider adding to the list of things that might endanger the lives of American troops.

“It must have come as a disappointment to the mullahs of Mazar-e-Sharif—who sent the faithful out on Friday with instructions to avenge the recent insult to the Quran—and to the mobs who consequently went forth to slaughter 12 people at U.N. headquarters, nine more in Kandahar the next day, and two more the next, that their bloody enterprise had counted for so little in the eyes of Western military leaders..

“It's hard to conceive of a pronouncement richer in evasions of brutal reality than this one, with its references to people "hurt'' in "demonstrations." The participants in these "demonstrations"—a nice touch, that, suggestive of marchers, perhaps carrying placards—had in fact hunted down and killed, by shooting, stabbing and beating to death a total of 22 people by the end of the third day's expression of religious devotion.”   [emphasis mine]

Paul Ryan previews FY2012 budget

That Goldstone Report thing? Uh...nevermind

The Goldstone Recantation

by Phyllis Chesler

Sometime Friday night, April 1, 2011, which was also the Jewish Sabbath, the Washington Post published, online, a rather remarkable op-ed piece by South African jurist Richard Goldstone. Essentially, Goldstone recanted his own [“Goldstone Report,”] a document which has been used against Israel in countless, damaging ways, a document which accuses Israel of possible “war crimes” and “crimes against humanity” in its incursion into Gaza in response to the 10,000 rockets Hamas launched towards Israeli civilians in Sderot and southern Israel—a document which charges Israel with having “purposely targeted civilians in Gaza.”

Goldstone now admits that all the above charges are wrong, false, are based on too-little-information or on flawed-information. He partly blames Israel for not “co-operating” with the venomously biased Human Rights Council, but in truth, Goldstone really had available much of the information which is now contained in Israel’s painfully careful investigation of what happened in Gaza.

Israel looked into the false allegations that it had “targeted civilians” and investigated itself thoroughly. Of course, although Goldstone also charged Hamas with this same task—Hamas did not do so. Now, rather late in the day, Goldstone has finally noted that there are actually some important differences between an open, transparent, lawful, ethical, and democratic Jewish state and an Islamist-terrorist organization such as Hamas.

One wonders: Why is Goldstone recanting? And, if he is, indeed, recanting, why does he still hold back, why does he still not admit all that is known about the truth? But that is a question for another day. (I am sure that some Jewish leftists will insist that Goldstone was death-threatened by the Zionist Lobby, or could no longer bear his pariah status. Indeed, such articles have already appeared, long before this recantation. I doubt such cult leaders will pay attention to Israel’s careful documentation.

Here’s my concern: Once the genie is out of the bottle, once a lie has made the rounds, there is no stopping it, no way of taking it back. The damage is done. It is rarely reversible. As a psychologist, I know that “first impressions” are very powerful and almost impossible to change by introducing facts, studies, or logic.

Thus, like a rocket, once a Blood Libel is launched, it’s done its work. If, a year or two later, one carefully documents that the entire matter (the false allegation that the Israelis murdered Mohammed al-Dura, the false allegation that the IDF committed a massacre in Jenin, the false allegation that Israelis were purposely shooting at civilians in Gaza) was nothing but Big Fat Black-hearted Lies, most people have already moved on, their blood streams permanently altered, poisoned with Jew-hatred.

 The number of Human Rights groups, NGOs, the United Nations, Muslim governments, the world media, that have relied on the Goldstone Report to further delegitimize Israel are as countless as the stars. That includes the UN Human Rights Council, which issued the hateful, lying document; all the supposed human rights groups (Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, B’Tzelem, Al Haq, The New Israel Fund) that relied upon it; all the Jewish left-liberals and their patron handler, George Soros, (J Street); all the media and publishing outlets that found in Goldstone’s flawed document justification for their one-sided anger against the Jewish State. (Read all here)

Is the Term 'Insane' Too Mild?

U.S. Gov't Spent More Than 8X Its Monthly Revenue

Monday, April 04, 2011 By Terence P. Jeffrey
(CNSNews.com) - The U.S. Treasury has released a final statement for the month of March that demonstrates that financial madness has gripped the federal government.

During the month, according to the Treasury, the federal government grossed $194 billion in tax revenue and paid out $65.898 billion in tax refunds (including $62.011 to individuals and $3.887 to businesses) thus netting $128.179 billion in tax revenue for March.

At the same, the Treasury paid out a total of $1.1187 trillion. When the $65.898 billion in tax refunds is deducted from that, the Treasury paid a net of $1.0528 trillion in federal expenses for March.

That $1.0528 trillion in spending for March equaled 8.2 times the $128.179 in net federal tax revenue for the month.

The lion’s share of this federal spending went to redeem Treasury securities that had matured during the month—most of which were short-term Treasury bills that have terms of one-year or less.

In fact, during March the Treasury redeemed $705.3 billion in Treasury securities of which $623.9 billion were short-term bills with a term of one year or less.

After the disbursements made to pay off the $705.3 billion in loans that came due in March, three of the other top four federal spending items for the month were entitlements programs. The other top item was payments to defense contractors.

The Treasury paid $49.8 billion in Social Security benefits in March, $47.4 billion in Medicare benefits, and $22.575 billion in Medicaid benefits. It also paid $37.9 billion to defense contractors.

To help pay off its $1.0528 trillion in monthly bills on only $128.179 in monthly tax revenue, the Treasury turned primarily to new borrowing. During the month, according to the Treasury statement, the government sold $786.5 billion in new securities. It also drew down its cash balance from $190.6 billion at the beginning of the month to $118.1 billion at the end of the month. It also reaped $18 billion from the sale of assets in the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

The federal government’s cash-flow situation was summed up pungently in Senate Budget Committee testimony by Erskine Bowles, who served as chief of staff to President Bill Clinton and is now the co-chair of President Barack Obama’s National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility.

“I'm really concerned,” Bowles told the committee last month. “I think we face the most predictable economic crisis in history. A lot of us sitting in this room didn't see this last crisis as it came upon us. But this one is really easy to see. The fiscal path we are on today is simply not sustainable.

“This debt and these deficits that we are incurring on an annual basis are like a cancer and they are truly going to destroy this country from within unless we have the common sense to do something about it,” said Bowles. (read entire article here)

Rep. Allen West & E. W. Jackson Rally 'Racist' Tea Party

Rolling Stone's Piece of B.S.

Calling BULLSHIT on Rolling Stone-Michael Yon, 29 March 2011

"Seldom do I waste time with rebutting articles, and especially not from publications like Rolling Stone. Today, numerous people sent links to the latest Rolling Stone tripe. The story is titled “THE KILL TEAM, THE FULL STORY.” It should be titled: “BULLSHIT, from Rolling Stone.”
The story—not really an “article”—covers Soldiers from 5/2 Stryker Brigade Combat Team (SBCT) in Afghanistan. A handful of Soldiers were accused of murder. It does in fact appear that a tiny group of rogues committed premeditated murder. I was embedded with the 5/2 SBCT and was afforded incredible access to the brigade by the Commander, Colonel Harry Tunnell, and the brigade Command Sergeant Major, Robb Prosser. I know Robb from Iraq. Colonel Tunnell had been shot in Iraq.
The brigade gave me open access. I could go anywhere, anytime, so long as I could find a ride, which never was a problem beyond normal combat problems. If they had something to hide, it was limited and I didn’t find it. I was not with the Soldiers accused of murder and had no knowledge of this. It is important to note that the murder allegations were not discovered by media vigilance, but by, for instance, at least one Soldier in that tiny unit who was appalled by the behavior. A brigade is a big place with thousands of Soldiers, and in Afghanistan they were spread thinly across several provinces because we decided to wage war with too few troops. Those Soldiers accused of being involved in (or who should have been knowledgeable of) the murders could fit into a minivan. You would need ten 747s for the rest of the Brigade who did their duty. I was with many other Soldiers from 5/2 SBCT. My overall impression was very positive. After scratching my memory for negative impressions from 5/2 Soldiers, I can’t think of any, actually, other than the tiny Kill Team who, to my knowledge, I never set eyes upon.
The online edition of the Rolling Stone story contains a section with a video called “Motorcycle Kill,” which includes our Soldiers gunning down Taliban who were speeding on a motorcycle toward our guys. These Soldiers were also with 5/2 SBCT, far away from the “Kill Team” later accused of the murders. Rolling Stone commits a literary “crime” by deceptively entwining this normal combat video with the Kill Team story. The Taliban on the motorcycle were killed during an intense operation in the Arghandab near Kandahar City. People who have been to the Arghandab realize the extreme danger there. The Soviets got beaten horribly in the Arghandab, despite throwing everything including the Soviet kitchen sink into the battle that lasted over a month. Others fared little better. To my knowledge, 5/2 and supporting units were the first ever to take Arghandab, and these two dead Taliban were part of that process.[...]" (read entire article)

Michael Yon is a former Green Beret, native of Winter Haven, Florida, who has been reporting from Iraq and Afghanistan since December 2004. No other reporter has spent as much time with combat troops in these two wars. Michael’s dispatches from the frontlines have earned him the reputation as the premier independent combat journalist of his generation. His work has been featured on “Good Morning America,” The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, CNN, ABC, Fox News, as well as hundreds of other major media outlets all around the world. He is also author of the memoir, "Danger Close." For more visit his website, Michael Yon Online. 

Here's a photo from Michael Yon's collection that would be antithetical to The Rolling Stone's narrative: