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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2011 - 03:21pm PT
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2011 - 03:33pm PT
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2011 - 04:04pm PT
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U.S. 'held secret meeting with Muslim Brotherhood'
Discussed fall of Egypt with group dedicated to Islam's global spread
------------------------------------------------------------------------ Posted: February 01, 2011
10:59 am Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WorldNetDaily
Barack Obama
JERUSALEM – The Egyptian government has information a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Cairo secretly met yesterday with a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the nation's major Islamist opposition group, WND has learned.
The topic of the meeting was the future of Egypt following the "fall" of President Hosni Mubarak, an Egyptian intelligence official told WND.
The claim comes amid charges from Cairo that the Obama administration has been encouraging the protests rocking Egypt and targeting the rule of Mubarak, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
The Egyptian intelligence official told WND his government has information of a meeting that took place yesterday between Issam El-Erian, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Frank Wisner, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt.
The Obama administration dispatched Wisner to Egypt this past weekend to report to the State Department and White House a general sense of the situation in the embattled country.
(Story continues below)
The Egyptian intelligence official speaking to WND said the meeting took place inside the American embassy in Cairo
The U.S. State Department would neither confirm nor deny the report.
The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to spread Islam around the world, in large part using nonviolent means. Hamas and al-Qaida are violent Brotherhood offshoots.
The latest information is not the first charge by the Egyptian government that the Obama administration has been working with or encouraging the opposition to Mubarak.
Last week, a senior Egyptian diplomat stated the Egyptian government suspects elements of the current uprising there, particularly political aspects, are being coordinated with the U.S. State Department and Obama administration.
The senior Egyptian diplomat told WND the Mubarak regime suspects the U.S. has been aiding protest planning by Mohamed ElBaradei, who is seen as one of the main opposition leaders in Cairo.
ElBaradei, former International Atomic Energy Agency chief, has reinvented himself as a campaigner for "reform" in Egypt. He is a candidate for this year's scheduled presidential elections.
ElBaradei arrived in Cairo just after last week's protests began and is reportedly being confined to his home by Egyptian security forces.
He is seen as an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood.
This past weekend, the London Telegraph reported the U.S. embassy in Cairo in 2008 helped a young dissident attend a U.S.-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.
The Telegraph would not identify the dissident, but said he was involved in helping to stir the current protests. The report claimed the dissident told the U.S. embassy in Cairo that an alliance of opposition groups had a plan to topple Mubarak'sgovernment.
The disclosures, contained in U.S. diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police.
The White House has been almost openly championing the unrest in Egypt.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an "orderly transition" to democracy in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood is the main opposition group.
Obama reportedly voiced support for an "orderly transition" in Egypt that is responsive to the aspirations of Egyptians in phone calls with foreign leaders, the White House said.
Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, speaking in a White House webcast, also urged the government and protesters in Egypt to refrain from violence.
Egyptian officials speaking to WND, however, warned the Muslim Brotherhood has the most to gain from any political reform.
Read more: U.S. 'held secret meeting with Muslim Brotherhood' http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258405#ixzz1Ck52qmZ7
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dirtbag
climber
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U.S. 'held secret meeting with Muslim Brotherhood'
Discussed fall of Egypt with group dedicated to Islam's global spread
----------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Posted: February 01, 2011
10:59 am Eastern
By Aaron Klein
© 2011 WorldNetDaily
Barack Obama
JERUSALEM – The Egyptian government has information a diplomat at the U.S. embassy in Cairo secretly met yesterday with a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, the nation's major Islamist opposition group, WND has learned.
The topic of the meeting was the future of Egypt following the "fall" of President Hosni Mubarak, an Egyptian intelligence official told WND.
The claim comes amid charges from Cairo that the Obama administration has been encouraging the protests rocking Egypt and targeting the rule of Mubarak, a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.
The Egyptian intelligence official told WND his government has information of a meeting that took place yesterday between Issam El-Erian, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Frank Wisner, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt.
The Obama administration dispatched Wisner to Egypt this past weekend to report to the State Department and White House a general sense of the situation in the embattled country.
(Story continues below)
The Egyptian intelligence official speaking to WND said the meeting took place inside the American embassy in Cairo
The U.S. State Department would neither confirm nor deny the report.
The Muslim Brotherhood seeks to spread Islam around the world, in large part using nonviolent means. Hamas and al-Qaida are violent Brotherhood offshoots.
The latest information is not the first charge by the Egyptian government that the Obama administration has been working with or encouraging the opposition to Mubarak.
Last week, a senior Egyptian diplomat stated the Egyptian government suspects elements of the current uprising there, particularly political aspects, are being coordinated with the U.S. State Department and Obama administration.
The senior Egyptian diplomat told WND the Mubarak regime suspects the U.S. has been aiding protest planning by Mohamed ElBaradei, who is seen as one of the main opposition leaders in Cairo.
ElBaradei, former International Atomic Energy Agency chief, has reinvented himself as a campaigner for "reform" in Egypt. He is a candidate for this year's scheduled presidential elections.
ElBaradei arrived in Cairo just after last week's protests began and is reportedly being confined to his home by Egyptian security forces.
He is seen as an ally of the Muslim Brotherhood.
This past weekend, the London Telegraph reported the U.S. embassy in Cairo in 2008 helped a young dissident attend a U.S.-sponsored summit for activists in New York, while working to keep his identity secret from Egyptian state police.
The Telegraph would not identify the dissident, but said he was involved in helping to stir the current protests. The report claimed the dissident told the U.S. embassy in Cairo that an alliance of opposition groups had a plan to topple Mubarak'sgovernment.
The disclosures, contained in U.S. diplomatic dispatches released by the WikiLeaks website, show American officials pressed the Egyptian government to release other dissidents who had been detained by the police.
The White House has been almost openly championing the unrest in Egypt.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for an "orderly transition" to democracy in Egypt, where the Muslim Brotherhood is the main opposition group.
Obama reportedly voiced support for an "orderly transition" in Egypt that is responsive to the aspirations of Egyptians in phone calls with foreign leaders, the White House said.
Deputy National Security Adviser Denis McDonough, speaking in a White House webcast, also urged the government and protesters in Egypt to refrain from violence.
Egyptian officials speaking to WND, however, warned the Muslim Brotherhood has the most to gain from any political reform.
Read more: U.S. 'held secret meeting with Muslim Brotherhood' http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258405#ixzz1Ck52qmZ7
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 1, 2011 - 04:18pm PT
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Judge compares Obamacare to reason for Revolution
'Difficult to imagine' Founders forcing people 'to buy tea'
Posted: January 31, 2011
9:39 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WorldNetDaily
The federal judge who today ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional said he couldn't imagine that the Founders of America would have rebelled over a tea tax only to set up a government requiring people to buy tea.
"If it [Congress] has the power to compel an otherwise passive individual into a commercial transaction with a third party merely by asserting – as was done in the Act – that compelling the actual transaction is itself 'commercial and economic in nature and substantially affects interstate commerce,' it is not hyperbolizing to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted," wrote Judge Roger Vinson in his decision declaring the more than 2,000 pages of legislation unconstitutional.
Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal
"It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place," he said.
A multitude of organizations whose leaders have been fighting the nationalization under Obama of one-sixth of the nation's economy – the health care complex – agreed.
"We … feel vindicated by Judge Vinson's ruling that the Obamacare mandate – which forces Americans to buy health insurance – is unconstitutional," said a statement from Concerned Women for America.
"We urge Congress to go forward with repealing the law and all its unsavory elements: the unconstitutional mandate, the higher taxes, and the abortion coverage which almost killed the bill in Congress last year."
(Story continues below)
Vinson concluded that the requirement that all Americans buy the health insurance specified by the government isn't within Congress' power, and since that is instrumental to the rest of the law, the entire package must collapse.
His is the fourth district court opinion on the subject. Two found the plan constitutional and now two have declared it unconstitutional. The status ultimately is expected to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Florida case, in the U.S. District court in Pensacola, was the most high-profile, however, because it was brought by 26 states and others.
"Congress must operate within the bounds established by the Constitution. … I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate … Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void," he said.
There also are about a dozen states with legislation pending that would outlaw Obamacare within their borders.
At the Institute for Policy Innovation, officials said, "state legislators should yell 'Stop,' and set Obamacare implementation efforts aside until the U.S. Supreme Court decides the issue."
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the ruling backs up the earlier verdict in a Virginia case, and it's important because of the Constitution.
"Many of us opposed Obamacare in part because of our oath to the Constitution," he said. "Any member who has reservations should now be empowered to vote with those of us who will cut off all funding to Obamacare starting with the continuing resolution."
He said his legislation plan would treat Obamacare "as if such act had not been enacted."
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver, who already is preparing to argue a similar case before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said, "Congress does not have unlimited authority to regulate private actions. If the Constitution does not give Congress the power to act, then Congress cannot act. No one wants the federal government or a pencil-pushing bureaucrat in Washington policing private medical decisions. No one wants IRS agents to become the health insurance police. The threat to liberty posed by the health-care bill goes beyond health care."
The American Center for Law and Justice also is arguing cases against Obamacare, and chief counsel Jay Sekulow said the decision is "both sensible and sound."
"By declaring the individual mandate unconstitutional, the court rejects the unprecedented power grab by the federal government. But the Florida decision goes further – striking down the entire health care law as unconstitutional," he said. "The fact is that forcing Americans to purchase health care not only undermines individual liberty, but violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, and as this court correctly determined, renders the entire law void. We're very encouraged by this ruling and will continue to represent members of Congress in preparing an amicus brief supporting Florida's challenge of Obamacare – at the next level – at the appellate court."
If the government appeals, as is expected, it would go to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the decision was what most of the states and a majority of the American people already knew.
"The federal government should not be in the business of forcing you to buy health insurance and punishing you if you don’t," he said.
"This health care law remains a major source of uncertainty for small businesses, which is why all parties involved should request that this case be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court for a swift and fair resolution. Of course, the easiest way to protect the American people from this job-destroying health care law is to repeal it so we can start over with common-sense reforms that lower costs and protect jobs without unconstitutional mandates, new taxes, and costly penalties. The House has passed legislation to do just that, and I hope Senate Democratic leaders will bring up the measure for an up-or-down vote," he said.
Clint Bolick, the litigation director for the Goldwater Institute, said the result was a "triumph."
The judge said the case wasn't about the problems with health care today, but "about our federalist system."
The judge said, "If Congress can penalize a passive individual for failing to engage in commerce, the enumeration of powers in the Constitution would have been in vain for it would be 'difficult to perceive any limitation on federal power' and we would have a Constitution in name only.
"Surely this is not what the Founding Fathers could have intended."
He concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court has defined the Commerce Clause to require "activity."
"I am required to interpret this law as the Supreme Court presently defines it. Only the Supreme Court can redefine it or expand it further – a point implicitly made by one of the defendants' own cited authorities," he said.
Obamacare already has been repealed in the U.S. House, where the vote was 245-189, which included three Democrats backing repeal. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to prevent the issue from coming up for discussion, Republicans say they will work on getting the Senate, which has a slight Democrat majority, to discuss the issue.
In Texas, the state legislation rejecting the takeover plan is being led by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler.
The measure would not only nullify the federal requirements but would include penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and up to five years in jail for anyone guilty of the "felony" of attempting "to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation" of Obamacare.
The bill says the federal act:
(1) is invalid in this state;
(2) is not recognized by this state;
(3) is specifically rejected by this state; and
(4) is null and void and of no effect in this state.
It provides that "a person who is an official, agent, or employee of the United States or an employee of a corporation providing services to the United States commits an offense if the person enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the United States in violation of this chapter."
Read more: Judge compares Obamacare to reason for Revolution http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258221#ixzz1Ck9Ovq6a
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dirtbag
climber
|
|
Judge compares Obamacare to reason for Revolution
'Difficult to imagine' Founders forcing people 'to buy tea'
Posted: January 31, 2011
9:39 pm Eastern
By Bob Unruh
© 2011 WorldNetDaily
The federal judge who today ruled that Obamacare is unconstitutional said he couldn't imagine that the Founders of America would have rebelled over a tea tax only to set up a government requiring people to buy tea.
"If it [Congress] has the power to compel an otherwise passive individual into a commercial transaction with a third party merely by asserting – as was done in the Act – that compelling the actual transaction is itself 'commercial and economic in nature and substantially affects interstate commerce,' it is not hyperbolizing to suggest that Congress could do almost anything it wanted," wrote Judge Roger Vinson in his decision declaring the more than 2,000 pages of legislation unconstitutional.
Get "Taking America Back," Joseph Farah's manifesto for sovereignty, self-reliance and moral renewal
"It is difficult to imagine that a nation which began, at least in part, as the result of opposition to a British mandate giving the East India Company a monopoly and imposing a nominal tax on all tea sold in America would have set out to create a government with the power to force people to buy tea in the first place," he said.
A multitude of organizations whose leaders have been fighting the nationalization under Obama of one-sixth of the nation's economy – the health care complex – agreed.
"We … feel vindicated by Judge Vinson's ruling that the Obamacare mandate – which forces Americans to buy health insurance – is unconstitutional," said a statement from Concerned Women for America.
"We urge Congress to go forward with repealing the law and all its unsavory elements: the unconstitutional mandate, the higher taxes, and the abortion coverage which almost killed the bill in Congress last year."
(Story continues below)
Vinson concluded that the requirement that all Americans buy the health insurance specified by the government isn't within Congress' power, and since that is instrumental to the rest of the law, the entire package must collapse.
His is the fourth district court opinion on the subject. Two found the plan constitutional and now two have declared it unconstitutional. The status ultimately is expected to be determined by the U.S. Supreme Court.
The Florida case, in the U.S. District court in Pensacola, was the most high-profile, however, because it was brought by 26 states and others.
"Congress must operate within the bounds established by the Constitution. … I must reluctantly conclude that Congress exceeded the bounds of its authority in passing the Act with the individual mandate … Because the individual mandate is unconstitutional and not severable, the entire Act must be declared void," he said.
There also are about a dozen states with legislation pending that would outlaw Obamacare within their borders.
At the Institute for Policy Innovation, officials said, "state legislators should yell 'Stop,' and set Obamacare implementation efforts aside until the U.S. Supreme Court decides the issue."
Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the ruling backs up the earlier verdict in a Virginia case, and it's important because of the Constitution.
"Many of us opposed Obamacare in part because of our oath to the Constitution," he said. "Any member who has reservations should now be empowered to vote with those of us who will cut off all funding to Obamacare starting with the continuing resolution."
He said his legislation plan would treat Obamacare "as if such act had not been enacted."
Liberty Counsel Chairman Mat Staver, who already is preparing to argue a similar case before the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, said, "Congress does not have unlimited authority to regulate private actions. If the Constitution does not give Congress the power to act, then Congress cannot act. No one wants the federal government or a pencil-pushing bureaucrat in Washington policing private medical decisions. No one wants IRS agents to become the health insurance police. The threat to liberty posed by the health-care bill goes beyond health care."
The American Center for Law and Justice also is arguing cases against Obamacare, and chief counsel Jay Sekulow said the decision is "both sensible and sound."
"By declaring the individual mandate unconstitutional, the court rejects the unprecedented power grab by the federal government. But the Florida decision goes further – striking down the entire health care law as unconstitutional," he said. "The fact is that forcing Americans to purchase health care not only undermines individual liberty, but violates the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, and as this court correctly determined, renders the entire law void. We're very encouraged by this ruling and will continue to represent members of Congress in preparing an amicus brief supporting Florida's challenge of Obamacare – at the next level – at the appellate court."
If the government appeals, as is expected, it would go to the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the decision was what most of the states and a majority of the American people already knew.
"The federal government should not be in the business of forcing you to buy health insurance and punishing you if you don’t," he said.
"This health care law remains a major source of uncertainty for small businesses, which is why all parties involved should request that this case be sent to the U.S. Supreme Court for a swift and fair resolution. Of course, the easiest way to protect the American people from this job-destroying health care law is to repeal it so we can start over with common-sense reforms that lower costs and protect jobs without unconstitutional mandates, new taxes, and costly penalties. The House has passed legislation to do just that, and I hope Senate Democratic leaders will bring up the measure for an up-or-down vote," he said.
Clint Bolick, the litigation director for the Goldwater Institute, said the result was a "triumph."
The judge said the case wasn't about the problems with health care today, but "about our federalist system."
The judge said, "If Congress can penalize a passive individual for failing to engage in commerce, the enumeration of powers in the Constitution would have been in vain for it would be 'difficult to perceive any limitation on federal power' and we would have a Constitution in name only.
"Surely this is not what the Founding Fathers could have intended."
He concluded that the U.S. Supreme Court has defined the Commerce Clause to require "activity."
"I am required to interpret this law as the Supreme Court presently defines it. Only the Supreme Court can redefine it or expand it further – a point implicitly made by one of the defendants' own cited authorities," he said.
Obamacare already has been repealed in the U.S. House, where the vote was 245-189, which included three Democrats backing repeal. While Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., has promised to prevent the issue from coming up for discussion, Republicans say they will work on getting the Senate, which has a slight Democrat majority, to discuss the issue.
In Texas, the state legislation rejecting the takeover plan is being led by Rep. Leo Berman, R-Tyler.
The measure would not only nullify the federal requirements but would include penalties of up to $5,000 in fines and up to five years in jail for anyone guilty of the "felony" of attempting "to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule or regulation" of Obamacare.
The bill says the federal act:
(1) is invalid in this state;
(2) is not recognized by this state;
(3) is specifically rejected by this state; and
(4) is null and void and of no effect in this state.
It provides that "a person who is an official, agent, or employee of the United States or an employee of a corporation providing services to the United States commits an offense if the person enforces or attempts to enforce an act, order, law, statute, rule, or regulation of the United States in violation of this chapter."
Read more: Judge compares Obamacare to reason for Revolution http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=258221#ixzz1Ck9Ovq6a
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 2, 2011 - 12:09pm PT
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http://www.jihadwatch.org/2008/08/obamas-muslim-outreach-adviser-tied-to-muslim-brotherhood-quits.html
Obama Lifts Ban on Muslim Brotherhood Leader – Getting ready for the new Egypt?
January 29, 2011 —
Let me offer my two cents or more. Sounds like the U.S. may have been supporting the overthrow of the present Egyptian regime behind the scene. Okay, maybe Egypt is up for Jeffersonian Democracy, but I wouldn’t count on it. I was willing to let that go, for perhaps a feel good moment that the great awakening was happening in the middle east. Since I am very much a cynic regarding the Obama regime, this tidbit that I caught up with was very alarming to me. Having witnessed first hand from relatives who worked for the U.S. government in Iran at the time the Shah was kicked, a deja vu moment flashed before me. Yes, the Shah was tough on the fanatics. Yes, the Shah for the first time was attempting to westernize the country that was driving the clerics nuts. Women were allowed to go to school. Drive. Use makeup. But no, we were determined that they have their Democratic society. It lasted a few moments. Then the fanatics took over. At some point, as much as we love our Country, we must come to recognize it is not always the perfect system for everyone. If the price of potential freedom ends up in worse tyranny, nothing has been gained.
Getting on with my story: Recall this post of ours last year: Janet Napolitano meets with Muslim Brotherhood Leaders
Why are we now sucking up to the Muslim Brotherhood? Is this Obama’s idea for the new government in Egypt? Is this what he is working on behind the scene? Another repeat of Iran?
Today we learn that the Barack Obama administration has decided to lift a ban preventing Muslim Scholar Professor Tariq Ramadan from entering the United States. Ramadan, an Egyptian currently living in Switzerland, is a leading member of Europe’s Muslim Brotherhood branch and the grandson of the movement’s founder Hassan al-Banna. The Muslim Brotherhood is the parent organization for Hamas and some of the groups that recently merged into al-Qaeda, including Ayman al Zawahiri’s Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Ramadan was invited to teach at the University of Notre Dame in 2004 but the George W. Bush administration revoked his visa, citing a statute that applies to those who have “endorsed or espoused” terrorism. Israel Nation News
The Egyptian intelligence official told WND his government has information of a meeting that took place yesterday between Issam El-Erian, a senior leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, and Frank Wisner, a former U.S. ambassador to Egypt.
The Obama administration dispatched Wisner to Egypt this past weekend to report to the State Department and White House a general sense of the situation in the embattled country.
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 2, 2011 - 12:22pm PT
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Egyptians Battling in Streets of Cairo
Cairo Museum Reportedly Catches Fire after Molotv Cocktail Thrown
http://www.foxnews.com/
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 2, 2011 - 01:13pm PT
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The Muslim Brotherhood expounds a caliphate system of government (the Islam religion is the government) and some Muslim Brotherhood leaders have overtly called for the destruction of Israel.
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/para/mb.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muslim_Brotherhood
Any overt or covert support for any organization like this by our
American Government is subversive and contrary to our belief of 'separation of church and state' and is a backstab to our ally Israel since Egypt sits right on its border.
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 3, 2011 - 02:37pm PT
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US response to Egypt draws criticism in Israel
Feb 3, 7:26 AM (ET)
By AMY TEIBEL
JERUSALEM (AP) - President Barack Obama's response to the crisis in Egypt is drawing fierce criticism in Israel, where many view the U.S. leader as a political naif whose pressure on a stalwart ally to hand over power is liable to backfire.
Critics - including senior Israeli officials who have shied from saying so publicly - say Obama is repeating the same mistakes of predecessors whose calls for human rights and democracy in the Middle East have often backfired by bringing anti-West regimes to power.
Israeli officials, while refraining from open criticism of Obama, have made no secret of their view that shunning Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak and pushing for swift elections in Egypt could bring unintended results.
"I don't think the Americans understand yet the disaster they have pushed the Middle East into," said lawmaker Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, who until recently was a Cabinet minister and who is a longtime friend of Mubarak.
"If there are elections like the Americans want, I wouldn't be surprised if the Muslim Brotherhood didn't win a majority, it would win half of the seats in parliament," he told Army Radio. "It will be a new Middle East, extremist radical Islam."
Three decades ago, President Jimmy Carter urged another staunch American ally - the shah of Iran - to loosen his grip on power, only to see his autocratic regime replaced by the Islamic Republic. More recently, U.S.-supported elections have strengthened such groups as Hezbollah in Lebanon, Hamas in the Palestinian territories and anti-American radicals in Iran.
"Jimmy Carter will go down in American history as 'the president who lost Iran,'" the analyst Aluf Benn wrote in the daily Haaretz this week. "Barack Obama will be remembered as the president who 'lost' Turkey, Lebanon and Egypt, and during whose tenure America's alliances in the Middle East crumbled," Benn wrote.
Israel has tremendous respect for Mubarak, who carefully honored his country's peace agreement with Israel after taking power nearly 30 years ago.
While relations were often cool, Mubarak maintained a stable situation that has allowed Israel to greatly reduce its military spending and troop presence along the border with Egypt.
He also worked with Israel to contain the Gaza Strip's Hamas government and served as a bridge to the broader Arab world. Israeli leaders have said it is essential that whoever emerges as Egypt's next leader continue to honor the peace agreement.
For more than a week, Egyptians fed up with deepening poverty, corruption and 30 years of Mubarak's autocratic rule have massed across the country to demand his ouster. The backlash has forced Mubarak to announce he won't run in September elections, but that has not appeased protesters, who want him out now.
In the course of the turmoil, the Obama administration has repeatedly recalibrated its posture, initially expressing confidence in Egypt's government, later threatening to withhold U.S. aid, and lastly, pressing Mubarak to loosen his grip on power immediately.
"We want to see free, fair and credible elections," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley said Wednesday. "The sooner that can happen, the better."
Critics say the U.S. is once again confusing the mechanics of democracy with democracy itself.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed similar sentiments this week when he warned that "if extremist forces are allowed to exploit democratic processes to come to power to advance anti-democratic goals - as has happened in Iran and elsewhere - the outcome will be bad for peace and bad for democracy."
So far, no unified opposition leadership or clear program for change has emerged in Egypt. Historically the leading opposition in Egypt has been the Muslim Brotherhood, a group that favors Islamic rule and has been repressed by Mubarak throughout his tenure.
Many young people see the former director of the U.N.'s nuclear watchdog agency, Mohammed ElBaradei, as Egypt's democratic hope, but critics say he is out of touch with Egypt's problems because he has spent so many years outside of the country.
The calls for democracy inside Egypt have put the U.S. in an awkward position of having to balance its defense for human rights with its longtime ties to an authoritarian regime that has been a crucial Arab ally.
In Israel, critics say the U.S. has suffered a credibility loss by shaking off Mubarak when his regime started crumbling.
"The Israeli concept is that the U.S. rushed to stab Mubarak in the back," said Eytan Gilboa, an expert on the U.S. at Bar-Ilan University.
"As Israel sees it, they could have pressured Mubarak, but not in such an overt way, because the consequence could be a loss of faith in the U.S. by all pro-Western Arab states in the Middle East, and also a loss of faith in Israel," he said.
Raphael Israeli, a professor emeritus of Middle Eastern Studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, echoed a widely felt perception that before the unrest erupted, the Obama administration paid only lip service to the lack of human rights in Mubarak's authoritarian regime.
"If Obama were genuinely concerned with what is going on in Egypt, he should have made the same demands two years ago (when he addressed the Muslim world in Cairo) and eight years and 20 years ago. Mubarak didn't come to power yesterday."
"As long as there are no problems, the oppression works," Israeli said. "If the oppression doesn't work, suddenly it becomes urgent. That's unacceptable."
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2011 - 11:26am PT
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The vice president of Egypt said 1 million foreign tourists have fled the country, costing $1 billion in lost revenues from one of Egypt's most important industries.
80% of Egypts GNP is associated with Tourism. Government instability, in any form, does not contribute in any positive way.
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 4, 2011 - 04:18pm PT
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THE DECADES-LONG MILITARY RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE U.S. AND EGYPT BENEFITS BOTH
COUNTRIES - Egypt gets everything from tanks and fighter jets to warships. The U.S. gets flyover rights, desert training exercises and expedited passage for its naval vessels through the Suez Canal.
Now questions abound as to whether the Egyptian military will emerge from the ongoing crisis unscathed and whether a new Egyptian government would maintain this close military-to military relationship.
U.S. Arms In Egypt
The military weapons and gear on the streets of Cairo have one thing in common.
"All the people picking up tear gas canisters that said Made in the USA. And the jets that fly overhead that buzz the crowds are American F-16s," says Gary Sick, who worked on Middle East issues for three presidents at the National Security Council and now teaches at Columbia University. "That sends a particular message on where the United States stands on this whole thing."
The United States is the major arms supplier to Egypt — more than $1 billion each year from the American taxpayer. That pays for a full 80 percent of the weapons Egypt buys from American companies like General Dynamics.
And there's more. Egypt gets hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus American military equipment.
Larry Velte, of National Defense University, says that includes everything from two Navy frigates to helicopter spare parts.
"Apache helicopters, which may not, these days, be state-of-the-art modern, but they're better than the Russian models that they had," says Velte.
The Russian ones they had until the mid 1970s. That's when Egyptian President Anwar Sadat turned his back on the Soviets and reached out to the Americans. (Source: NPR)
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 07:48am PT
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Two years ago on January 20th, Barack Obama was inaugurated as president of the United States . Are you better off today than you were two years ago? Numbers don't lie, and here are the data on the impact he has had on the lives of Americans.
January 2009_TODAY_% chg_Source
Avg. retail price/gallon gas in U.S. $1.83 $3.104 69.6% 1
Crude oil, European Brent (barrel) $43.48 $99.02 127.7% 2
Crude oil, West TX Inter. (barrel) $38.74 $91.38 135.9% 2
Gold: London (per troy oz.) $853.25 $1,369.50 60.5% 2
Corn, No.2 yellow, Central IL $3.56 $6.33 78.1% 2
Soybeans, No. 1 yellow, IL $9.66 $13.75 42.3% 2
Sugar, cane, raw, world, lb. fob $13.37 $35.39 164.7% 2
Unemployment rate, non-farm, overall 7.6% 9.4% 23.7% 3
Unemployment rate, blacks 12.6% 15.8% 25.4% 3
Number of unemployed 11,616,000 14,485,000 24.7% 3
Number of fed. employees, ex. military (curr = 12/10 prelim)
2,779,000 2,840,000 2.2% 3
Real median household income (2008 v 2009)
$50,112 $49,777 -0.7% 4
Number of food stamp recipients (curr = 10/10)
31,983,716 43,200,878 35.1% 5
Number of unemployment benefit recipients (curr = 12/10)
7,526,598 9,193,838 22.2% 6
Number of long-term unemployed
2,600,000 6,400,000 146.2% 3
Poverty rate, individuals (2008 v 2009) 13.2% 14.3% 8.3% 4
People in poverty in U.S. (2008 v 2009)
39,800,000 43,600,000 9.5% 4
U.S. rank in Economic Freedom World Rankings
5 9 n/a 10
Present Situation Index (curr = 12/10) 29.9 23.5 -21.4% 11
Failed banks (curr = 2010 + 2011 to date)
140 164 17.1% 12
U.S. dollar versus Japanese yen exchange rate
89.76 82.03 -8.6% 2
U.S. money supply, M1, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)
1,575.1 1,865.7 18.4% 13
U.S. money supply, M2, in billions (curr = 12/10 prelim)
8,310.9 8,852.3 6.5% 13
National debt, in trillions $10.627 $14.052 32.2% 14
Just take this last item: In the last two years we have accumulated national debt at a rate more than 27 times as fast as during the rest of our entire nation's history. Over 27 times as fast! Metaphorically, speaking, if you are driving in the right lane doing 65 MPH and a car rockets past you in the left lane 27 times faster . . . it would be doing 1,755 MPH! This is a disaster!
Sources:
(1) U.S. Energy Information Administration; (2) Wall Street Journal; (3) Bureau of Labor Statistics; (4) Census Bureau; (5) USDA; (6) U.S. Dept. of Labor; (7) FHFA; (8) Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller; (9) RealtyTrac; (10) Heritage Foundation and WSJ; (11) The Conference Board; (12) FDIC; (13) Federal Reserve; (14) U.S. Treasury
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 14, 2011 - 08:21am PT
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Go to FOX and vote NO on banning the American flag in America VOTE !!!
This is disgusting, to put it mildly. Your voice needs to be heard.
This is just sickening. Only 76.15% have voted on the FOX poll to NOT ban the flag in school and something like 18.0% voted YES, to ban it
What is going on in this country?? Read below.
Fox is running a poll about whether the flag should be banned in schools in order not to inflame Hispanic students. The poll is being sandbagged by SEIU and we should mount a counter action if you agree with me that the flag should be taken down for no one.
Moveon.org, funded by George Soros, Organizing for America , and SEIU, "Service Employee International UNION", have been twittering today to go to Fox Poll and vote to BAN the Flag and right now it is still working (18%).
It's time to SHOW THEM WHAT TRUE PATRIOTS BELIEVE!!!
GO HERE NOW:
http://www.foxnews.com/opinion/2010/05/06/american-flag-banned-america/
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Daniel Eubank
Sport climber
Woodbridge, VA
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Topic Author's Reply - Feb 15, 2011 - 11:20am PT
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Biting the bullet on expenses:
It's tough but, like our government, we all need to do our part.
The President ordered the cabinet to cut a whopping $100 million from the $3.5 trillion federal budget!
I'm so impressed by this sacrifice that I have decided to do the same thing with my personal budget. Being retired, I spend about $1500 a month on groceries, medicine, bills, etc., but it's time to get out the budget cutting ax, go line by line through my expenses, and go to work.
I'm going to cut my spending at exactly the same ratio -1/35,000 of my total budget. After doing the math, it looks like instead of spending $1500 a month;
I'm going to have to cut that number by four cents!
Yes, I'm going to have to get by with $1499.96, but that's what sacrifice is all about. I'll just have to do without those luxuries I've been blowing four cents on.
Times are tough. Happy to do my share. :'(
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