Thursday, April 23, 2009

RED ALERT: Terrorist Bill Ayers Scheduled for College Speech


Brandeis College in Boston has scheduled our favorite terrorist, Bill Ayers, for a speech. Brandeis is a typical liberal institution and -- apparently -- uses the term "College" loosely.

And Brandeis takes its role as a bully pulpit for terrorists seriously.

"This is about freedom of educational opportunity," said Brandeis spokesman Dennis Nealon. "The university has made it clear that it is not going to bar the talk despite the controversial nature of the speaker."

What Ayers has to do with 'freedom' in any form is a mystery for anthropologists of the future to figure out, as Ayers and his wife are quite open about their Communist leanings.

Apparently Hitler was unavailable.

Due to vocal opposition, Ayers' recent trips to speak at Naperville High School in Illinois, an indie bookstore in the same town and at Boston College have all been canceled.

By the way: does it seem like Ayers is trying to get out of house a lot these days?

But if you were married to the despicable shrew Bernadine Dohrn, you'd be heading out on weekly road trips too.

Let's get out the word: here's some contact information for the relevant parties:

Dennis Nealon, Executive Director, Media and Public Affairs
(781) 736-4205       nealon@brandeis.edu

Jehuda Reinharz, President, Reinharz@brandeis.edu

Joanna Gould, Assistant to the President
781-736-3001       gould@brandeis.edu

Dr. John Hose, Executive Assistant to the President and Assistant Secretary of the Corporation
781-736-3005       hose@brandeis.edu

Max Pearlstein, University and Media Relations Specialist
781-736-4206       maxp@brandeis.edu

Charles Radin, Director of Global Communications & Operations
(781) 736-4210       radin@brandeis.edu

Call or email... and politely express your opposition to the likes of Ayers indoctrinating our youth with despicable and anti-American leanings.


Message relayed by: Beach Girl, Mitchell Langbert and Nice Deb. Thanks!



ACORN scrubs its website to erase Union ties


The Spectator's Matthew Vadum and The Washington Examiner have been pursuing the kind of investigative journalism that has long since been abandoned by the dying mainstream media. Tracking the troubled, "non-partisan" voter registration group ACORN, the Examiner's Kevin Mooney called attention to Vadum's work.

Political activists who masquerade as non-partisan community organizers have joined with organized labor to pressure elected officials into supporting left wing causes, according to a top analyst with the Capital Research Center (CRC)...

“ACORN claims to be non-partisan but there are mountains of evidence that show it is flagrantly partisan,” Vadum said. “It celebrates the most left-wing politicians and endorses Democratic Party candidates. Whenever ACORN is called out for activity that might violate their tax status, the standard operating procedure is to deny responsibility and to place the blame on rogue actors. Their network is deliberately set up to avoid scrutiny and to create confusion...”

Shortly thereafter, Vadum discovered that ACORN had scrubbed its website, erasing ties to the SEIU and other hard-core union bosses.

A photo retrieved from SEIU Local 100's website today. The original photo caption reads: "Organizers from Local 100, ACORN, and SEIU, supporters and attorneys celebrate our victory on February 3, 2002." The man with the sandy hair to the right of the microphones is Wade Rathke, founder and then-chief organizer of ACORN.


It scrubbed its website of references to two of its key affiliates, Locals 100 and 880 of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), an event reported by Kevin Mooney of the Washington Examiner.

Why would the radical left-wing ACORN do that? An observer I spoke with earlier today speculated that organized labor doesn't want to be associated with ACORN, which is pure PR poison, right now as it presses for the most important item on its legislative agenda: the misnamed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA) also known as "card check."

ACOfRN, which until recently proudly listed Locals 100 and 880 of SEIU as affiliates, removed the short blurbs and logos of the two entities from its allied organizations page.


As of April 20, one day before Mooney's article on ACORN and its ties to unions ran in the Washington Examiner, the ACORN website page looked like this. [PDF]

From the same website, here is a copy that I made on Oct. 24, 2008 of an official list of ACORN's affiliates, a document called "ACORN, ACORN Affiliate, and COUNCIL Offices."

Moreover, SEIU Local 100's most recent publicly available IRS Form 990 shows ACORN founder Wade Rathke as that local's chief organizer (see page 5 of above linked PDF file)...

Vadum wraps up with an effective summary of this egregious abuse of the federal non-profit tax laws.

ACORN claims to be non-partisan but there are mountains of evidence that show it is flagrantly partisan... It celebrates the most left-wing politicians and endorses Democratic Party candidates. Whenever ACORN is called out for activity that might violate their tax status, the standard operating procedure is to deny responsibility and to place the blame on rogue actors. Their network is deliberately set up to avoid scrutiny and to create confusion.

ACORN's reported abuse of both the voter registration system and the tax code have reached legendary status.

Every legal means possible should be used to eradicate this disgraceful group from the face of the Earth.


Terrifying Roller Coaster in Northern Ohio


This is one serious coaster at Cedar Point.






'Nuff said.

Update: Commenter Bill Frank says it was built in 2003.


The SEALs misunderstood President Obama's orders


Behind the Scenes at the Rescue Off Somalia


Papa B forwards this one.

Your "Real" story is not exactly the way I heard it, and probably has a few political twists thrown in to stir the pot. Rather than me trying to correct it, I'll just tell you what I found out from my contacts at NSWC Norfolk and at SOCOM Tampa.

First though, let me orient you to familiarize you with the "terrain."

In Africa from Djibouti at the southern end of the Red Sea eastward through the Gulf of Aden to round Cape Guardafui at the easternmost tip of Africa (also known as "The Horn of Africa") is about a 600 nm transit before you stand out into the Indian Ocean. That transit is comparable in distance to that from the mouth of the Mississippi at New Orleans to the tip of Florida at Key West-- except that 600 nm over there is infested with Somalia pirates.

Ships turning southward at the Horn of Africa transit the SLOC (Sea Lane of Commerce) along the east coast of Somalia because of the prevailing southerly currents there. It's about 1,500 nm on to Mombassa, which is just south of the equator in Kenya. Comparably, that's about the transit distance from Portland Maine down the east coast of the US to Miami Florida. In other words, the ocean area being patrolled by our naval forces off the coast of Somalia is comparable to that in the Gulf of Mexico from the Mississippi River east to Miami then up the eastern seaboard to Maine.

Second, let me globally orient you from our Naval Operating Base in Norfolk, VA, east across the Atlantic to North Africa, thence across the Med to Suez in Egypt, thence southward down the Red Sea to Djibouti at the Gulf of Aden, thence eastward to round Cape Guardafui at the easternmost tip of Africa, and thence southerly some 300 miles down the east cost of Somali out into the high seas of the Indian Ocean to the position of MV ALABAMA is a little more than 7,000 nm, and plus-nine time-zones ahead of EST.

Hold that thought, in that, a C-17 transport averaging a little better than 400 kts (SOG) takes the best part of 18 hours to make that trip. In the evening darkness late Thursday night, a team of Navy SEALs from NSWC (Naval Surface Warfare Center) Norfolk parachuted from such a C-17 into the black waters (no refraction of light) of the Indian Ocean-- close-aboard to our 40,000 ton amphibious assault ship, USS BOXER (LHD 4), the flagship of our ESG (Expeditionary Strike Group) in the AOR (Area Of Responsibility, the Gulf of Aden). They not only parachuted in with all of their "equipment," they had their own inflatable boats, RHIB's (Rigid Hull, Inflatable Boats) with them for over-water transport. They went into BOXER's landing dock, debarked, and staged for the rescue-- Thursday night.

And, let me comment on time-late: In that the SEAL's quick response-- departing ready-alert in less than 4 hours from Norfolk-- supposedly surprised POTUS's staff, whereas President Obama was miffed not to get his "cops" there before the Navy. He reportedly questioned his staff, "Will 'my' FBI people get there before the Navy does?" It took the FBI almost 12 hours to put together a team and get them packed-up-- for an "at sea" rescue. The FBI was trying to tell him that they are not practiced to do this-- Navy SEALs are. But, BHO wanted the FBI there "to help," that is, carry out the Attorney General's (his) orders to negotiate the release of Captain Phillips peacefully-- because apparently he doesn't trust GW's military to carry out his "political guidance."

The flight of the FBI's passenger jet took a little less than 14 hours at 500-some knots to get to Djibouti. BOXER'S helos picked them up and transported them out to the ship. The Navy SEALs were already there, staged, and ready to act by the time POTUS's FBI arrived on board latter that evening. Notably, the first request by the OSC (On Scene Commander) that early Friday morning to take them out and save Captain Phillips was denied, to wit: "No, wait until 'my' FBI people get there."

Third, please consider a candid assessment of ability that finds that the FBI snipers had never practiced shooting from a rolling, pitching, yawing, surging, swaying, heaving platform-- and, target-- such as a ship and a lifeboat on the high seas. Navies have been doing since Admiral Nelson who had trained "Marines" to shoot muskets from the ship's rigging-- ironically, he was killed at sea in HMS VICTORY at the Battle of Trafalgar by a French Marine rifleman that shot him from the rigging of the French ship that they were grappling alongside.

Notably, when I was first training at USNA in 1955, the Navy was doing it with a SATU, Small Arms Training Unit, based at our Little Creek amphib base. Now, Navy SEAL's, in particular SEAL Team SIX (The "DevGru") based at NSWC (Naval Surface Warfare Center) at Little Creek do that training now, and hone their skills professionally-- daily. Shooting small arms from a ship is more of an accomplished "Art Form" than it is a practiced skill. When you are "in the bubble" and "in tune" with the harmonic motion you find, through practice, that you are "able to put three .308 slugs inside the head of a quarter at 100 meters, in day or night-- or, behind a camouflaged net or a thin enclosure, such as a superstructure bulkhead. Yes, we have the monocular scopes that can "see" heat-- and, draw a bead on it. SEALs are absolutely expert at it-- with the movie clips to prove it.

Okay, now try to imagine patrolling among the boats fishing everyday out on the Grand Banks off our New England coast, and then responding to a distress call from down around the waters between Florida and the Bahamas. Three points for you to consider here: (1) Time-Distance-Speed relationships for ships on the high seas, for instance, at a 25-knot SOA (Speed Of Advance) it takes 24 hours to make good 600 nm-- BAINBRIDGE did. (2) Fishermen work on the high seas, and (3) The best place to hide as a "fisherman" pirate is among other fishermen

Early Wednesday morning, 4/8/2009, MV ALABAMA is at sea in the IO about 300 miles off the (east) coast of Somalia en route to Mombassa Kenya. Pirates in small boat start harassing her, and threatening her with weapons. MV ALABAMA's captain sent out the distress call by radio, and ordered his Engineer to shut down the engines as well as the ship-service electrical generators-- in our lingo, "Go dark and cold." He informed his crew by radio what was happening, and ordered them to go to an out-of-the-way compartment and lock themselves in it-- from the inside. He would stay in the pilot house to "negotiate" with the pirates.

The pirates boarded, captured the Captain, and ordered him to start the engines. He said he would order his Engineer to do so, and he called down to Engine Control on the internal communication system, but got no answer. The lead pirate ordered two of his four men to go down and find him and get the engines started.

Inside a ship without any lights is like the definition of dark. The advantage goes to the people who work and live there. They jumped the two pirates in a dark passageway. Both pirates lost their weapons, but one managed to scramble and get away. The other they tied up, put tape over his mouth and a knife at his throat.

Other members of the crew opened the drain cocks on the pirates boat and cast it adrift. It foundered and sunk. The scrambling pirate made it back to the pilot house and told of his demise. The pirates took the Captain at gun point, and told him to launch one of his rescue boats (not a life boat, per se). As he was lowering the boat for them, the crew appeared with the other pirate to negotiate a trade. The crew let their hostage go to soon, and the pirates kept the captain. But, he purposefully had lowered the boat so it would jam.

With the rescue boat jammed, the pirates jumped over to a lifeboat and released it as the captain jumped in the water. They fired at him, made him stop, and grabbed him out of the water. Now, as night falls in the vastness of the Indian Ocean, we have the classic "Mexican" standoff, to wit: A life-boat that is just that, a life-boat adrift without any means of propulsion except oars and paddles; and, a huge (by comparison) Motor Vessel Container Ship adrift with a crew that is not going to leave their captain behind. The pirates are enclosed under its shelter-covering, holding the captain as their hostage. The crew is hunkered down in their ship waiting for the "posse" to arrive.

After receiving MV ALABAMA'S distress call, USS BAINBRIDGE (DDG 96) was dispatched by the ESG commander to respond to ALABAMA's distress call. At best sustainable speed, she arrived on scene the day after-- that is, in the dark of that early Thursday morning. As BAINBRIDGE quietly and slowly, at darkened-ship without any lights to give her away, arrived on scene, please consider a recorded interview with the Chief Engineer of MV ALABAMA describing BAINBRIDGE's arrival. He said it was something else "... to see the Navy slide in there like a greyhound!" He then said as she slipped in closer he could see the "Stars and Stripes" flying from her masthead. He got choked up saying it was the "...proudest moment of my life."

Phew! Let that sink in.

Earlier in the day, one of the U.S. Navy's Maritime Patrol Aircraft, a fixed wing P3C, flew over to recon the scene. They dropped a buoy with a radio to the pirates so that the Navy's interpreter could talk with the pirates. When BAINBRIDGE arrived, the pirates thought the radio to be a beaconing device, and threw it overboard. They wanted a satellite telephone so that they could call home for help. Remember now, they are fishermen, not "Rocket Scientists," in that, they don't know that we can intercept the phone transmission also.

MV ALABAMA provided them with a satellite phone. They called home back to "somebody" in Eyl Somalia (so that we now know where you live) to come out and get them. The "somebody" in Eyl said they would be out right away with other hostages, like 54 of them from other countries, and that they would be coming out in two of their pirated ships. Right-- and, the tooth fairy will let you have sex with her. Yea, in paradise. The "somebody" in Eyl just chalked up four more expendables as overhead for "the cost of operation." Next page.

Anyway, ESG will continue to "watch" Eyl for any ships standing out.

The Navy SEAL team, SEAL TEAM SIX, from NSWC briefed the OSC (Commander Castellano, CO BAINBRIDGE) on how they could rescue the captain from the life boat with swimmers-- "Combat Swimmers," per se. That plan was denied by POTUS because it put the captain in danger-- and, involved killing the pirates.

The FBI negotiators arrived on scene, and talked the pirates into sending their wounded man over for treatment Saturday morning. Later that afternoon, the SEAL's sent over their RHIB with food and water to recon the life boat but the pirates shot at it. They could have taken them out then (from being fired upon) but were denied again being told that the captain was not in "imminent danger." The FBI negotiators calmed the situation by informing the pirates of threatening weather as they could see storm clouds closing from the horizon, and offered to tow the life boat. The pirates agreed, and BAINBRIDGE took them under tow in their wake at 30 meters-- exactly 30 meters, which is exactly the distance the SEALs practice their shooting skills.

With the lifeboat under tow, riding comfortably bow-down on BAINBRIDGE's wake-wave ("rooster tail"), had a 17-second period of harmonic motion, and at the end of every half-period (8.5 seconds) was steady on. The light-enhanced (infra-red heat) monocular scopes on the SEAL's .308 caliber Mark 11 Mod 0 H&K suppressor-fitted sniper rifles easily imaged their target very clearly. Pirates in a life boat at 30-meters could be compared to fish in a barrel. All that was necessary was to take out the plexiglass window so that it would not deflect the trajectory of the high velocity .308 round. So, a sniper (one of four) with a wad-cutter round (a flaxen sabot) would take out the window a split second before the kill-shot-- no change in sight-picture, just the window blowing out, clean.

Now, here's the part BHO's "whiz kids" knew as well as the Navy hierarchy, including CO BAINBRIDGE and CO SEAL TEAM SIX. It's the law in Article 19 of Appendix L in the "Convention of the High Seas" that the Commanding Officer of a US Ship on the high seas is obligated to respond to distress signals from any flagged ship (US or otherwise), and protect the life and property thereof when deemed to be in IMMINENT DANGER. So, in the final analysis, it would be Captain Castellano call as to "Imminent Danger," and that he alone was obligated (duty bound) to act accordingly.

Got the picture?

After medically attending to the wounded pirated, and feeding him, come first light (from the east) on Easter Sunday morning and the pirates saw they were being towed further out to sea (instead of westward toward land), the wounded pirate demanded to be returned to the lifeboat. There would BE NO more negotiations-- and, the four Navy SEAL snipers "in the bubble" went "Unlock." The pirate holding Captain Philips raised the gun to his head, and IMMINENT DANGER was so observed and noted in the Log as CO BAINBRIDGE gave the classic order: WEAPONS RELEASED! I can hear the echo in my earpiece now, "On my count (from 8.5 seconds), 3, 2, 1, !" POP, BANG! Out went the window, followed by three simultaneous shots. The scoreboard flashed: "GAME OVER, GAME OVER-- NAVY 3, PIRATES 0!"

I hope you found the above informative as best I know it-- and, please excuse me in that after more than 50 years the Navy is still in me. I submit that AMERICA is going to make a comeback, and more than likely it'll be on the back of our cherished youth serving with honor in Our military. So, let's
Look Up, Get Up-- and, Never Give Up!

Larwyn's Link Kerplosion: Billions to ACORN, zero to DOD

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

National Security


Inhofe: Obama slashing defense budget: Bixby
So long, F-22: Morrissey
Real torture in the UAE: LGF
Top Legislators Knew of Interrogations: Times
Napolitano must go: Allahpundit
Landmark Legal throws down the gauntlet: Levin (4/21/09)

International Affairs


World is Laughing at 100 Days of Failure: Greenroom
Ahmadinejad Hijacks Durban II: Kilgannon
President Borat Obama: PJM (Fleming)

Crime


Feinstein hubby's firm 'awarded' $25B in taxpayer funds: Times
Exclusive: ACORN: Can We Trust Anything They Say?: FSM

Energy and Climate


Eco-fuzzy math: Debunking a cap-and-trade debunking: Malkin
Blogger Investigates $27B Lawsuit Against Chevron: BMW

Business


GE shareholders slam Olbermann, MSNBC: Gateway
GE: "...we can buy your level of incompetence for a hell of a lot less": MoneyRunner
Failed radio hack fails on MSNBC, too: Equalizer

Tech


Email: still the one for developers: LinuxNews

Culture


Kitco Metals bans personal opinions on gay marriage: Langberg
Miss CA and Obama share the same views on gay marriage: Brutally Honest

"The left has whined about McCarthyism for more than fifty years, yet it does not hesitate to apply McCarthyite tactics, ruining careers with ideological litmus tests, when an individual's views do not conform to left wing... dogma." -- JJC, in a letter to Kitco Metals.

Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Power-to-weight ratio in the Lotus position


Edmunds Inside Line has the inside scoop on the Lotus Exige, a thinly disguised racing vehicle that barely crosses into street-legal territory

There are a lot of triggers for pure driving endorphins, and each of us is certainly entitled to his or her preferred sources thereof. When the road or circuit to be tamed is a technical one on limited real estate and there's (ideally) a crowd of small-displacement competitors having at it, the Lotus Exige is very difficult to shake off. The fact that so few modifications are needed to make the midengine Lotus track-worthy also makes it an instant favorite...

We spent most of our time — as we normally spend most of our time whenever we show up at the Lotus doorstep on Potash Lane — happily perfecting our cornering strategies on the 2.3-mile test track in back of company HQ. It's almost meditative out there as we get further and further into the Lotus Zone and start hitting most of the drifting sections spot on. With the 2009 Lotus Exige S 260 Sport, nirvana is possible.

...Take the proven riveted and bonded all-aluminum 111S-type chassis for this generation Exige and then add 84 pounds of lightness, as it were, in the assembly of this car versus the 2008 Lotus 260 Exige (sold only outside North America). This gives the taut and low-lying 257-horsepower Exige S 260 Sport (the "S" is for supercharged) a curb weight of just 1,962 pounds and a weight-per-hp ratio of 7.63 pounds per horse. This pretty simply demonstrates why the compact midengine Exige is such a terror... A Porsche Cayman S hauls 9.45 pounds per pony and the Mini Cooper S John Cooper Works coopers around 12.77 pounds for every cooper.

This Exige is a veritable dart; just point and shoot...

Daddy like.


Liberal Energy Dreamland


He's just chock full of good ideas, ain't he?


By 2025, Barack Obama:

...would like 25% of U.S. electricity to be generated from clean, renewable sources including wind, solar and geothermal with a Renewable Portfolio Standard. Obama calls for $150 billion to be invested over 10 years in clean energy and infrastructure to support it.

And I'd like 25% of U.S. electricity to be generated from unicorn droppings.

Doesn't this liberal dreamland seem familiar? Let's rewind to June 20, 1979:

President Carter announces program to increase Nation's use of solar energy, including solar development bank and increased funds for solar energy research and development.

In the little land we like to call reality, our economy runs on oil. No matter how many green initiatives we sponsor, there will be significant time required to wean ourselves off of fossil fuels. And the free market will create these alternatives, not ACORN, the SEIU, and the other anti-American moonbats who are on the receiving end of a cash leaf-blower.

Ignoring the shortfall puts our entire economy -- and, by extension, our national security -- at risk.

Contact your representative today and demand an end to tyranny; demand that government unlock free-market energy solutions.


Diane Feinstein's egregious conflict-of-interest sends millions in taxpayer funds to her husband's firm


Today, The Washington Times published new revelations regarding Democrats' proclivity for raping taxpayers. As if the ethics challenges of the Obama administration and Congressional hacks like Dodd, Frank, Rangel, Mollohan, Reid, Murtha and Waters weren't enough, Diane Feinstein turned some new tricks that helpfully enriched her husband.

In May of 2008, the FDIC began an RFP process to help manage and resell its immense portfolio of foreclosed real estate. It received proposals from 18 firms.

Feinstein wrote to the FDIC head on Oct. 30, as her husband's firm (CBRE) was still competing for the contract. Bair responded in November, noting that she had not been able to convince Treasury to fund her plan for handling foreclosures.


Click to zoom

On November 13th, the FDIC inked a contract with CBRE that could yield tens of millions of dollars (or more) when most commercial real estate firms are dying on the vine. CBRE was suffering greatly; its share price had hemorrhaged from $24.50 in May to $3.77 in November.

Feinstein's husband's partnerships bought 10.6 million shares at a price of $3.77.

Several days later, the FDIC announced CBRE had won the contract. Foreclosure management experts call the contract "highly unusual" and stated that some of its fees were "egregious".

For example, CBRE can collect $7,500 on the sale of a property worth $25,000 or less (a commission of 30 percent or more). Experts state that competitive commissions for similar properties are between $2,000 and $2,500... a third of the fee.

On January 6th, Feinstein introduced a bill seeking $25 billion from TARP to help bankroll the FDIC's unfunded proposal. Her intervention was "unusual" since she isn't a member of any relevant committee and the FDIC operates using insurance payments from banks.

Gee, I'm sure Feinstein and her husband had no earthly idea what the other was doing. It was all just a coincidence that Feinstein intervened with the FDIC just before her husband's company won a "highly unusual" management contract with "egregious" fees.

Together, Feinstein and her husband are worth north of $52.3 million, according to her 2007 financial disclosure. Maybe you and I can pay higher taxes to get them up to, say, $250 million or so.


Larwyn's Link Kerplosion: A Rahm bomb for Jane Harman?

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

National Security


What would you not do to stop a nuke?: HuffPo (Lionel)
CIA: we stand behind our actions, and results: Morrissey
Who are the terrorists?: MoneyRunner
A Rahm bomb for Jane Harman?: AT (Lewis)
Take a deep breath, clarity to follow: Shrinkwrapped
Festivus Summit of the Americas: RCW (Fausta)

Terrorism


Worse than Neville Chamberlain: Steyn
The Madness of Durban II: LGF
AQ #2 claim's Obama's election as a 'victory': Gateway
Durban II Diary: UN folds its cards: PJM (Simon)
Domestic Terrorist added to FBI list is NOT a Veteran!: BMW
One more time! KSM waterboarded 183 times: Gateway

Moonbats


Thought Police Muscle Up in Britain: RCW
Obama's EPA declares CO2 a poison: PJM (Lewis)
Congratulations! You may be a terrorist!: Reason
Obama vs. the Navy SEALs: 4-block

Media


The Times' Pulitzer Surprise: Surber

History


A Lenin's Birthday Story: AT (Atbashian)
It was about hope, and change: Crittenden
The only way to prevent genocide: S, C & A
Patriot's Day: Surber

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Graph o' the day: Monstrous Cuts


Here are the big cuts.


Pathetic.


Gina Cobb: Gee, how's that line-by-line review coming?

Exclusive Text: What Waterboarding Revealed


Not one of the liberal pundits decrying the use of enhanced interrogation techniques (EITs) appears to have read the complete set of memos released by President Obama. I know this because I cannot find a single, plain-text version of the scanned memos anywhere on the web. And, the most critical section -- the results obtained from EITs -- is nowhere to be found.

Most of the anti-American leftists seem strangely incurious regarding the key question asked even at The Huffington Post: what did the enhanced interrogations reveal?

I herein present the actual results of the EITs as described in the partially redacted 5/30/2005 memo (U.S. Department of Justice Office of Legal Counsel, MEMORANDUM FOB JOHN A. RIZZO, SENIOR DEPUTY GENERAL COUNSEL, CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY, "Re: Application of 'United States Obligation; Under Article 16 of the Convention Against Torture to Certain Techniques That May Be Used in the Interrogation of High Value al Qaeda Detainees'", originally classified TOP SECRET/NOFORN).

What follows is my transcription of the critical sections of the scans.

The CIA used the waterboard extensively in the interrogations of KSM and Zubaydah, but it did so only after it became clear that standard interrogation techniques were not working. Interrogators used enhanced techniques in the interrogation of il-Nashiri with notable results as early as the first day. See IG Report at 35-36. Twelve days into the interrogation, the CIA subjected al-Nashiri to one session of the waterboard during which water was applied two times...

Indeed, before the CIA used enhanced techniques in the interrogation of KSM, KSM resisted giving any answers to questions about future attacks, simply noting, "Soon, you will know"...

...Zubaydah himself explained with respect to enhanced techniques, "brothers who are captured and interrogated are permitted by Allah to provide information when they believe they have 'reached the limit of their ability to withhold It' in the face of psychological and physical hardships." ...indeed, we understand that since the use of enhanced techniques, "KSM and Abu Zubaydah have been pivotal sources because of their ability and willingness to provide their analysis and speculation about the capabilities, methodologies, and mindsets of terrorists..."

...You have informed us that the interrogation of KSM — once enhanced techniques were employed — led to the discovery- of a KSM plot, the "Second Wave," "to use East Asian operatives to crash a hijacked airline into" a building in Los Angeles, Effectiveness Memo at 3...

...You have informed us that information obtained from KSM also led to the capture of Riduan bin Isomuddin, better known as Hambali, and the discovery of the Guraba Cell, a 17-member Jemaah Islamiyah cell tasked with executing the "Second Wave" See id. at 3-4: CIA Directorate of Intelligence, Al-Qa'ida's Ties to Other Key Terror Groups: Terrorists Links In a Chain 2 (Aug. 28, 2003). More specifically, we understand that KSM admitted that he had [REDACTED] large sum of money to an al Qaeda associate See Fax from [REDACTED]... DCI Counterterrorism Center, Briefing Notes on the [REDACTED] Reporting at 1 (Apr. 1 5, 2005) ('Briefing Notes")...

Khan subsequently identified the associate (Zubair), who was then captured. Zubair, in turn, provided Information that led to the arrest of Hambali Set id. The information acquired from these captures allowed CIA interrogators to pose more specific questions to KSM, which led the CIA to Hambali's brother, al-Hadi. Using information obtained from multiple sources, al-Hadi was captured, and he subsequently identified the Guraba cell. See id at 1-2 With the aid of this additional information, interrogations of Hambali confirmed much of what was learned from KSM...

Interrogations of Zubaydah — again, once enhanced techniques were employed — furnished detailed information regarding al Qaeda's "organizational structure, key operatives, and modus operandi" and identified KSM as the mastermind of the September 11 attacks. See Brieflng Notes at 4. You have informed us that Zubaydah also "provided significant information on two operatives, [including] Jose Padilla[,] who planned to build and detonate a 'dirty bomb' in the Washington DC area." Effectiveness Memo at 4. Zubaydah and KSM have also supplied important information about al-Zarqawi and his network...

[Ed: important footnote, partially redacted, reads: We discuss only a small fraction of the important intelligence CIA interrogators have obtained from KSM.]

More generally, the CIA has informed us that, since March 2002, the intelligence derived from CIA detainees has resulted in more 6,000 intelligence reports and in 2004 accounted for approximately half of CTC's reporting on al Qaeda. See Briefing Notes at 1; see also... report at 86 (noting that from September 11, 2001 through April 2003, the CIA "produced over 3,000 intelligence reports from" a few high value detainees). You have informed us that the substantial majority of this intelligence has come from detainees subjected to enhanced interrogation techniques...

...In addition, the CIA advises us that program has been virtually indispensable [unreadable] actionable intelligence than other forms of collection [REDACTED].

The terrorists who KSM ratted out include: Majid Khan, Hambali, Rusman “Gun Gun” Gunawan, Yazid Suffat, Jose Padilla, and Lyman Faris.

Hambali, to choose only one of these animals, coordinated the first Bali nightclub bombing on October 12, 2002. It killed 202 and injured 209, including 89 Australians and seven Americans.

Hambali also led the bombings of 30 churches across Indonesia in 2000 during Christmas Eve services -- which killed 17 -- and helped fund the August 5, 2003, Jakarta Marriott Hotel attack that killed 11 and wounded 150.

And now even columnists at the Huffington Post are asking "What would you not do to stop a nuke"?

To put things in simple terms for any "progressives" reading along, here's what the EITs revealed after 3,000 American civilians were slaughtered in cold blood by Al Qaeda:

FACT: EITs produced 3,000 of the 6,000 critical counter-terror intelligence reports only after normal techniques had proven fruitless;

FACT: EITs used on Zubaydah revealed KSM's identity as a mastermind behind the 9/11 attacks;

FACT: KSM ratted out a number of mass-murderers including Hambali;

FACT: Hambali's brother ratted out a cell bent on "9/11 Wave 2" on the West Coast;

FACT: Zubaydah also revealed Padilla and his plan to detonate a simplistic dirty bomb in Washington, DC;

So, drones, you can either believe the CIA forged 3,000 documents and magically captured mass-murderers without EITs... or you can believe the truth. And here's a warning:

Any attempts to investigate or prosecute attorneys or officials in the Bush administration will be exposed for what they are: political witch-hunts, motivated by Obama's endless campaign against George W. Bush that masks his complete, utter inability to govern the United States of America.

And what goes around, comes around.


Related: Obama's director of national intelligence affirms the value of EITs (Hugh Hewitt) and Rogue's Gallery (NRO). Linked by: Gateway Pundit and Jawa Report. Thanks!


Larwyn's Link Kerplosion: That 70's Show

Have a great link you'd like me to review? Drop me an email!

Politics


Democratic ship stuck with Urkel, Tombstone: Kass
Sophisticated Hatred: Democrats & America: PJM (Hawkins)
It was about hope, and change...: Crittenden
The Obama Administration: That 70’s Show: PJM
What Part of "Democracy" Don't Democrats Understand?: AT (Gladstein)

Protecting America


The Hostage Rescue: a Devastating Implication: Holzer
The Memos Prove We Didn't Torture: WSJ
The Obama Effect: AT (Lifson)
Harmon Tape Leak A Shot Across Israel's Bow: LegalIns
Note to the Apologizer-in-Chief: ¡No PasarÃn!
China only works if we do: AT (Feldman)
2nd Anniversary of Reid's Surrender to Al Qaeda: Gateway

Climate


Chu's assertions 'proven wrong by latest climate data': ClimDep
Cow Farts and Climate Change: Gateway

Extremism


Al Qaeda trained kids for human bomb attacks: Prairie
Which City Would You Sacrifice?: LegalIns
Clown Attack on Ahmadinejad: LGF
Sharia creep in Harvard Yard: GoV
Interview with a Nazi SS Officer: Atlas

Media


Questions for a Communist Terrorist: Kincaid
Dissent Now Unpatriotic: Big Hollywood
Lost in Translation: Susan Roesgen's Messages Spelled Out: ¡No PasarÃn!
Atlas Shrugged: a Review (with Spoilers): ASP

Crime


What an ATM card-skimmer looks like: Consumerist
The Public Pension Shakedown: WSJ

A simple analogy that answers the question, "What's so bad about socialism?"

An economics professor at Texas Tech said he had never failed a single student before but had, once, failed an entire class. That class had insisted that socialism worked and that no one would be poor and no one would be rich, a great equalizer.

The professor then said ok, we will have an experiment in this class on socialism. All grades would be averaged and everyone would receive the same grade so no one would fail and no one would receive an A.

After the first test the grades were averaged and everyone got a B. The students who studied hard were upset and the students who studied little were happy.
But, as the second test rolled around, the students who studied little had studied even less and the ones who studied hard decided they wanted a free ride too; so they studied little.. The second test average was a D! No one was happy.

When the 3rd test rolled around the average was an F. The scores never increased as bickering, blame, name calling all resulted in hard feelings and no one would study for the benefit of anyone else.

All failed, to their great surprise, and the professor told them that socialism would also ultimately fail because when the reward is great, the effort to succeed is great; but when government takes all the reward away; no one will try or want to succeed.

Could not be any simpler than that.

Via: R.B.

Monday, April 20, 2009

Let Them Eat Dirt


It all started out as a simple, money-making scam. In the late nineties, members of the UN's International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) were tasked with assessing the scientific validity of the Kyoto Protocol.

The Protocol was an international emissions reduction treaty which required signatories to cut overall greenhouse gas emissions.

The IPCC subsequently produced the Special Report on Land Use, Land Use Change, and Forestry.

The report found that "carbon offsets" and "carbon trading" were viable ways to barter the right to pollute, because they would fund new forestry initiatives. But one critical detail was never disclosed in the report.

That is: members of the IPCC, such as Pedro Moura-Costa (above) and Gareth Philips, had major conflicts-of-interest. They owned, created and/or worked for businesses -- such as Ecosecurities and SGS Forestry -- that would directly benefit from the report's conclusions.

In fact, the IPCC panel members' companies were positioned to earn millions of dollars from the report. But the mainstream media did not report these conflicts and instead piled on the "global warming" and "carbon offset" bandwagons.

The carbon offset market quickly exploded. In fact, $92 billion worth of offsets were estimated to change hands in 2008.

But wanton profiteering appears to be the sole rationale for "carbon trading".

Put simply, a wide range of respected scientists, environmentalists, researchers, agriculturalists, and activists believe that carbon offsets are a "scam", "fantasy", "fiction", "nonsense", "fraudulent" and worse. And they've been saying so since 2000, though to read the newspaper you wouldn't know it.

The World Rainforest Movement, for example, investigated these bizarre financial ties and concluded that the IPCC report must "...be shelved due to their clear conflict of interest and a new report instigated which will be free of the taint of intellectual corruption."

To demonstrate the fraudulence of the carbon offset market, one need only request quotes from various carbon offset sellers. The price for offseting a flight from London to Toronto and back?
  • $85: from Climate Care (UK), which says 6 tons of CO2 must be offset.
  • $60: Carbon Neutral (UK), which says 4.3 tons of CO2 must be offset.
  • $195: Climate Friendly (Australia) asserts that 11.63 tons of CO2 must be offset.
  • $180: Green Seat (Netherlands) says 8.68 tons of CO2 must be offset.

Put simply: they're all basically making it up as they go along.

Whether you believe the world is warming or cooling, there is no arguing Democrats want more expensive energy for American citizens.

All that said, the real problem — and the reason Pelosi really does deserve blame — is that Democrats’ political goal of reducing carbon emissions continues to trump their populist rhetoric on gasoline prices. The two stances are impossible to reconcile. Try as they might to blame oil companies for the pain Americans feel at the pump, the Democrats want higher prices for gasoline — and for all forms of energy that emit carbon. Economic barriers against CO2 emissions are a requirement for environmental progress in the Democrats’ view, and this is the entire purpose of the carbon cap-and-trade system they will put before the House this summer — to create economic disincentives for emitting CO2.

There's that phrase again: carbon trading.

It all comes back to carbon offsets, the "global warming" scam promoted by the UN's IPCC. And now, a group of scientists has formally petitioned the IPCC, asking that they cease and desist marketing the message that CO2 emissions relate to warming temperatures. The scientists go on to renounce the unintended consequences of the UN's position: that the policy of burning food (to produce biofuel) has driven food prices sharply higher and is causing hunger and deforestation in countries around the world (especially the poorer countries).

The net result? In Haiti, for example, citizens have been forced to eat mud patties consisting of dirt, oil and sugar.

Furthermore, scientists are now coming to the conclusion that "green" fuels can't replace oil anytime soon.

* * *

The hunger and wild fluctuations in oil prices are certain to continue until we come to grips with reality. That is, fossil fuels are required for the world to survive the next several decades. The transition to green technologies will take significant time and will only occur because of the free market, not government mandate.

Unless we wish to see mass starvation and economic ruin, we must demand that American companies be permitted to take advantage of our immense storehouse of energy. Anything else is economic suicide. Contact your representative today and tell them to stop driving us to ruin.




Update: Chosen as the post o' the week by The Watchers Council, which consists of the all-star blogs: Thanks!

Cheney calls Obama's Torture Memo Bluff


Drudge has the scoop of the day: Dick Cheney called the administration's bluff after President Obama's unprecedented disclosure of Top Secret national security memos.

Cheney Calls For More CIA Reports To Be Declassified -
Mon Apr 20 2009 16:20:53 ET

In a two part interview airing tonight and tomorrow night on FOX News Channel’s Hannity (9-10PM ET), former Vice President Dick Cheney shared his thoughts on the CIA memos that were recently declassified and also revealed his request to the CIA to declassify additional memos that confirm the success of the Bush administration’s interrogation tactics:

CHENEY:

"One of the things that I find a little bit disturbing about this recent disclosure is they put out the legal memos, the memos that the CIA got from the Office of Legal Counsel, but they didn't put out the memos that showed the success of the effort. And there are reports that show specifically what we gained as a result of this activity. They have not been declassified."

"I formally asked that they be declassified now. I haven't announced this up until now, I haven't talked about it, but I know specifically of reports that I read, that I saw that lay out what we learned through the interrogation process and what the consequences were for the country."

"And I've now formally asked the CIA to take steps to declassify those memos so we can lay them out there and the American people have a chance to see what we obtained and what we learned and how good the intelligence was, as well as to see this debate over the legal opinions."

If the Party of Weakness wants to insist that the Enhanced Interrogation Techniques (EITs) didn't work, let them release those memos.

As I said yesterday, Obama's actions just smashed open Pandora's Box and, in doing so, have endangered countless American lives.


"They can't understand autonomous beings gathering to promote liberty!"


Dr. John Lewis fires up the crowd at the Charlotte, North Carolina Tea Party.

"[Politicians and the mainstream media can't understand these rallies] because they can't understand autonomous beings gathering to promote liberty, by their own choice."

Watch the whole thing.


Hat tip: Tom K.

Evan Sayet: Live in Concert


Evan Sayet's Right to Laugh Concert continues tomorrow at the world famous Laugh Factory in Hollywood.


If you're in the neighborhood, drop by. And tell some friends. To get a taste of Sayet's comedy, this video should help you get acclimated. Sayet's reviews include:

'Evan has crossed that line from 'funny' to important.' -- Michael Barone, US News and World Report

'Simply the best political comedian working in America today,' -- David Horowitz, best selling author of 'The Party of Defeat.'

'Evan transcends the word 'comic.' He's brilliant!' -- David Zucker, Writer/Director, 'An American Carol,' 'Naked Gun' and 'Airplane.'

"If Ann Coulter, Jackie Mason and Evan Sayet were in town and I could only see two shows, I'd see Evan twice." -- Jaz McKay, Infinity Broadcasting.

"Evan is the best!!" -- Ann Coulter, best selling author of "If Democrats Had Any Brains They'd Be Republicans."

"Evan Sayet is one of my favorite cultural commentators," Tammy Bruce, nationally syndicated radio talk show host and best selling author.

"At last I can delight in a show that is genuinely funny. My thanks to Evan Sayet -- Larry Elder, nationally syndicated radio talk show host.

And even the enemy can't help but offer praise:

"(Evan Sayet's) a funny guy...he had the crowd howling." -- Marc Cooper, LA Weekly (Los Angeles' Ultra-Liberal "alternative weekly").

"Evan Sayet is always sharp, articulate, and obnoxiously successful at putting forward his conservative talking points!" -- Thom Hartmann, Air America Radio talk show host.