Monthly Archives: November 2009
Large Hadron Collider Webcams
LHC Compact Muon Solenoid Experiment Webcams
Click on image above for real-time images of the Large Hadron Collider.
The Democrat Bribe List – Michelle Malkin
The Most Transparent Administration Ever won’t keep this list.
The Most Ethical Congress ever won’t keep it either.
So we’ll do the list ourselves and shine the light on the payoffs and last-minute backroom deals being made as Demcare heads for the first test vote tomorrow. (On a procedural note, Hill folks note that “Senate Republicans started floor debate today at 11:00 a.m. and will continue until 11:00 p.m. to discuss the $2.5 trillion, 2,074-page health care bill drafted in Senator Harry Reid’s office” ahead of the Saturday cloture vote. C-SPAN’s covering.)
Here are the top five Demcare bribes. Keep an eye out on bribes/offers for Democrat Sens. Ben Nelson of Nebraska; Blanche Lincoln of Arkansas; and Evan Bayh of Indiana. Leave comments or e-mail any new info to add to the list.
Here we go:
1) MARY LANDRIEU AND LOUISIANA: $100 million via Jonathan Karl:
On page 432 of the Reid bill, there is a section increasing federal Medicaid subsidies for “certain states recovering from a major disaster.”
The section spends two pages defining which “states” would qualify, saying, among other things, that it would be states that “during the preceding 7 fiscal years” have been declared a “major disaster area.”
I am told the section applies to exactly one state: Louisiana, the home of moderate Democrat Mary Landrieu, who has been playing hard to get on the health care bill.
In other words, the bill spends two pages describing would could be written with a single world: Louisiana. (This may also help explain why the bill is long.)
Senator Harry Reid, who drafted the bill, cannot pass it without the support of Louisiana’s Mary Landrieu.
How much does it cost? According to the Congressional Budget Office: $100 million.
2) CALIFORNIA: $300 million, via LA Times:
Contained in the nearly 2,000-page House healthcare bill is a little-noticed provision — worth $300 million to California — that would increase federal Medicare payments to doctors in a wide swath of the state in response to complaints that low reimbursement rates have kept them from taking new patients.
Rep. Sam Farr (D-Carmel) was able to include a reimbursement calculation fix in the overhaul legislation. It was a testament to California’s political muscle in the House, where its delegation is the largest of any state and includes Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D- San Francisco) and five committee chairs.
3) AARP
a) Via Philip Klein: $18 million in stimulus money
b) The Medigap royalty/kickback scheme
4) THE ABORTION LOBBY, via LifeNews:
Two leading pro-life organizations that have analyzed the new 2,000-page government-run health care bill released by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid late yesterday say the legislation contains massive abortion funding and a fake amendment that does not truly ban it.
The Senate health care bill does not contain the Stupak amendment the House approved that stops abortion funding under the public option and affordability credits.
Instead, the measure contains a slightly-reworded version of the much-maligned Capps amendment, which a House committee approved on a partisan vote and which pro-life groups say is an accounting scheme to hide government-funded abortions.
“Reid has rejected the bipartisan Stupak-Pitts Amendment and has substituted completely unacceptable language that would result in coverage of abortion on demand in two big new federal government programs,” National Right to Life legislative director Douglas Johnson assured LifeNews.com late Wednesday.
World’s Leading Climate Research Center Hacked Exposing Global Warming Fraud
This is what we know:
* The University of East Anglia’s Hadley Climate Research Unit is the world’s preeminent climate research center. It’s data played a key role in IPCC’s Fourth Assessment Report.
* The BBC (and several other news organizations) confirmed that hackers broke into the Hadley CRU and downloaded emails and data files.
* The data has been published on the web.
* Several bloggers have confirmed that emails sent by the to Cru are contained in the files and are accurate.
* The emails, if true, reveal that world’s foremost climate researchers, many who are IPCC authors, have engaged in a pattern of manipulation of data, suppression of dissenting views, undermining of the peer review process, and outright fraud.
Since the data was compromised, it is impossible to know if it has not been tampered with. So at this early hour it is best to take it all with a grain of salt.
However, if these emails prove authentic (which it appears many do), this is a scandal on the scale of The Pentagon Papers.
Here are several of the published emails:
From Michael E. Mann (witholding of information / data):
Dear Phil and Gabi,
“I’ve attached a cleaned-up and commented version of the matlab code that I wrote for doing the Mann and Jones (2003) composites. I did this knowing that Phil and I are likely to have to respond to more crap criticisms from the idiots in the near future, so best to clean up the code and provide to some of my close colleagues in case they want to test it, etc. Please feel free to use this code for your own internal purposes, but don’t pass it along where it may get into the hands of the wrong people.”
From Nick McKay (modifying data):
“The Korttajarvi record was oriented in the reconstruction in the way that McIntyre said. I took a look at the original reference – the temperature proxy we looked at is x-ray density, which the author interprets to be inversely related to temperature. We had higher values as warmer in the reconstruction, so it looks to me like we got it wrong, unless we decided to reinterpret the record which I don’t remember. Darrell, does this sound right to you?”
From Dr. Phil Jones (modification of data to hide unwanted results):
“I’ve just completed Mike’s Nature trick of adding in the real temps to each series for the last 20 years (ie from 1981 onwards) amd from 1961 for Keith’s to hide the decline.”
From Kevin Trenberth (failure of computer models):
“The fact is that we can’t account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can’t. The CERES data published in the August BAMS 09 supplement on 2008 shows there should be even more warming: but the data are surely wrong. Our observing system is inadequate.”
From Phil Jones (destroying of emails / evidence):
Mike, Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re AR4? Keith will do likewise. He’s not in at the moment – minor family crisis. Can you also email Gene and get him to do the same? I don’t have his new email address. We will be getting Caspar to do likewise.
Also Visit The Herald Sun For More Information.
HotAir.com Is On The Case As Well.
When profits are outlawed………..
Only outlaws wil try to make them. This is what Congress seems to be saying here
Offended at the prospect of drug companies trying to sneak in some last minute profit ahead of sweeping legislation designed to choke such impulses forever into submission, Congressional Democrats have taken up their pitchforks:
(emphasis mine)WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Congressional Democrats are seeking government investigations into recent price increases of brand-name prescription drugs, as Congress finalizes an overhaul of the healthcare system.
Lawmakers are concerned the companies are trying to reap gains ahead of reforms aimed at lowering drug prices and forcing drugmakers to partly fund changes that aim to boost the number of Americans covered by health insurance.
Drugmakers “may be artificially raising prices for certain pharmaceutical products in expectation of new reforms,” wrote Charles Rangel and Henry Waxman, the respective chairmen of the House Ways and Means Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“Any price gouging is unacceptable, but anticipatory price gouging is especially offensive,” their letter said.
So, the mere threat of ObamaCare, or is it PelosiCare?, causes panic among drug companies? Imagine what will happen once the morons in Congress mandate what are acceptable profits. Egads what an absolute disaster that will be. Oh, and if these miscreants can control the profits of drug companies, then they can control the profits of any company! Oh yes, Marxism does just take a little and stop, it takes EVERYTHING eventually!
Wyblog goes Full Metal Jacket
Chris has a nice blog wrap up going, and I appreciate him including the Daley Gator.
14 Percent Of U.S. Homeowners In Peril – CBS News
Record-High Number Behind on Mortgage Payments or Facing Foreclosure, September Figures Show
More than 14 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage were either behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September, a record-high for the ninth straight quarter and a problem that could threaten the economic recovery.
The Mortgage Bankers Association’s report Thursday adds to fears that the housing market and broader recovery could be thwarted by the continuing surge in home loan defaults, especially as the unemployment rate keeps rising. Lost jobs, rather than the shady loans made during the housing boom, are now the main reason homeowners fall behind on their mortgages.
After three years of plunging prices, the housing market started to rebound this summer. While optimists hope the worst is over, pessimists say there are simply too many foreclosed properties that have yet to be dumped on the market and expect further price declines.
About 4 million homeowners were either in foreclosure or at least three months behind on their mortgage payments as of September, according to the mortgage bankers group. Even if a quarter of those borrowers are able to stay in their homes, “there’s a lot of potential inventory coming into the market next year,” said Jay Brinkmann, chief economist with the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Those foreclosures will push home prices downward, especially in the hardest-hit California and Florida cities, places that are also coping with soaring unemployment, he said.
John Kerry’s Daughter Arrested For Driving Under Influence – Politics Daily
Alexandra Kerry, an actress and filmmaker and the oldest daughter of Sen. John Kerry, was arrested in Hollywood Wednesday night for failing a sobriety test after she was stopped by Los Angeles police, the Associated Press reports.
Officer Bruce Borihanh says she was booked at the Hollywood police station and was held for about five hours. She was released at about 5:30 a.m. after posting $5,000 bail.
Kerry co-produced the 2008 film Be Like Others, a documentary about young Iranian men who undergo sex changes. She’s not the only filmmaker named Alexandra who also has a member of Congress as a parent: Alexandra Pelosi, daughter of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, directed a 2009 documentary about evangelical pastor Ted Haggard.
Rudy Giuliani To Run For U.S. Senate; If Elected May Aim For White House In 2012: Source – NY Daily News
Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani has decided not to run for governor next year – but will run for U.S. Senate instead, sources told the Daily News.
A source familiar with Giuliani’s thinking said the failed presidential candidate has been telling people he plans to run against Democratic Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand in 2010 to fill out the remaining two years of Hillary Clinton’s term.
If elected, the source said, he could use that as a stepping stone to run for President in 2012 – rather than run for re-election to the Senate.
A Giuliani spokeswoman downplayed the reports. “Rudy has a history of making up his own mind and has no problem speaking it,” she said. “When Mayor Giuliani makes a decision about serving in public office, he will inform New Yorkers on his own.”
His absence from the governor’s race would be a boon — and a bow — to Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, who is considering a run for the office.
Iran Is Advancing On Dual Nuclear Bomb Track: Uranium Plus Plutonium – DEBKAfile
DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the UN inspectors’ October visit to Iran turned up dual-track progress in support of its nuclear weapons program: Feverish activity was registered in the production of plutonium at Isfahan as an alternative to the Fordo enriched uranium plant near Qom which starts up in 2011.
The IAEA experts discovered 30 metric tons-IS of heavy water hidden in 600 tanks, each holding 13 gallons, according to the report they handed in last week to agency headquarters in Vienna.
From the shape of the tanks and other indications, the experts concluded that this stock had not come from the heavy water plant at Arak but was imported.
Metric tons-IS measure the amount of energy a given quantity can release. The force and types of nuclear bombs are gauged in kilotons or megatons. The American nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II was equal to 20 kilotons of TNT. By this standard, the amount of heavy water discovered at Isfahan would be enough to make at least one plutonium bomb when the plutonium reactor under construction near the Arak heavy water facility is finished.
Window Washer Survives 8-Story Fall From Seattle Building – KIRO
A window washer has survived an eight-story fall from a building on Second Avenue and Pike Street in downtown Seattle, reported KIRO 7 Eyewitness News.
KIRO 7 reporter Essex Porter said two workers were on top of the building that houses Nordstrom Rack when the accident happened Thursday at 11:20 a.m.
One worker fell from the top of the building, hit and cracked a seventh-floor window and then fell to the second floor where his safety rope caught and slowed the remainder of his fall to the ground.
The Seattle Fire Department said the 34-year-old man was transported to Harborview Medical Center with non-life threatening injuries.
The second window washer was not hurt.
The incident happened on the back side of the building that faces an alley.
Virus In The Voting Machines: Tainted Results In NY-23 – Gouverneur Times
The computerized voting machines used by many voters in the 23rd district had a computer virus – tainting the results, not just from those machines known to have been infected, but casting doubt on the accuracy of counts retrieved from any of the machines.
Cathleen Rogers, the Democratic Elections Commissioner in Hamilton County stated that they discovered a problem with their voting machines the week prior to the election and that the “virus” was fixed by a Technical Support representative from Dominion, the manufacturer. The Dominion/Sequoia Voting Systems representative “reprogrammed” their machines in time for them to use in the Nov. 3rd Special Election. None of the machines (from the same manufacturer) used in the other counties within the 23rd district were looked at nor were they recertified after the “reprogramming” that occurred in Hamilton County.
Republican Commissioner Judith Peck refused to speculate on whether the code that governs the counts could have been tampered with. She indicated that “as far as I know, the machine in question was not functioning properly and was repaired” by the technician.
Commissioners in other counties have stated that they were not made aware of the virus issue in Hamilton County. In Jefferson County, inspectors from four districts claim that “human error” resulted in their “mistakenly” entering 0 votes for Hoffman in several districts, resulting in Owens leading Jefferson County on election night though the recanvas of the computer counts now show that Hoffman is leading. Jefferson County has not conducted a manual paper ballot recount.
In St. Lawrence County, machines in Louisville, Waddington, Claire, and Rossie “broke” early in the voting process on election day. Republican Commissioner Deborah Pahler said that the machines kept “freezing up… like Windows does all the time,” and that they experienced several paper jams as well. The voted ballots that could not be scanned were placed in an Emergency Lock Box and re-scanned later at the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections. Election officials in St. Lawrence County were given no advance knowledge of a potential virus in the system.
At least one County official thus far has raised concern that it’s possible that ALL of the machines used in the NY-23 election had the ‘virus’ but only a few malfunctioned as a result. The counts from any district that used the ImageCast machines are suspect due to “the virus” discovered in Hamilton County, last-minute “reprogramming” by Dominion workers, and security flaws in the systems themselves. A manual paper-ballot recount of the vote could resolve computer vote accuracy questions.
Frank Hoar, an attorney for the Democratic Party, initially ordered the impound of malfunctioning machines but released the order on Nov. 5th so that Bill Owens could be sworn in to Congress in time to vote on the House Health bill on November 7th. Pahler said that once the impound order was released they opened the locked ballot box and had the ballots scanned. Pahler also stated that after they were able to get data from the malfunctioning machines, they did a hand-count of the ballots as well to ensure that the counts matched. Even though not required to, both commissioners in St. Lawrence County agreed that the manual count was necessary due to the malfunctions.
The machines themselves are languishing at the St. Lawrence County Board of Elections until after the election results have been certified to the state on November 28th, 2009. Pahler indicated that they have not yet been able to examine the machines to determine why they malfunctioned. A qualified technician would be able to verify the presence of a virus in the computers, but, other than the infected machines, no security precautions were taken to ensure chain of custody on the remaining computerized voting machines utilized in the 23rd district.
Doug Hoffman, the Conservative candidate in this election says that he was forced to concede after having been given erroneous election results on Nov. 3rd, in particular from Oswego County. Oswego County’s election night results were off by over 1,000 votes. Hoffman claims that the “chaos” on which Oswego County chairs blame the errors and “inspectors who read numbers incorrectly when phoning in results… sounds like a tactic right from the ACORN playbook.”
Jesse Jackass Slams Black Representative For Daring To Think For Himself
Jesse Jackson: ‘You Can’t Vote Against Healthcare And Call Yourself A Black Man’ – The Hill
The Rev. Jesse Jackson on Wednesday night criticized Rep. Artur Davis (D-Ala.) for voting against the Democrats’ signature healthcare bill.
“We even have blacks voting against the healthcare bill,” Jackson said at a reception Wednesday night. “You can’t vote against healthcare and call yourself a black man.”
The remark stirred a murmur at the reception, held by the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) Foundation as part of a series of events revolving around the 25th anniversary of Jackson’s run for president. Several CBC members were in attendance, including Chairwoman Barbara Lee (D-Calif.), who’d introduced Jackson.
Davis, who is running for governor, is the only black member of Congress from Alabama.
He is also the only member of the CBC to have voted against the healthcare bill earlier this month.
Sen. Reid’s Government-Run Health Plan Requires A Monthly Abortion Fee – John Boehner
Just like the original 2,032-page, government-run health care plan from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA), Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid’s (D-NV) massive, 2,074-page bill would levy a new “abortion premium” fee on Americans in the government-run plan.
Beginning on line 7, p. 118, section 1303 under “Voluntary Choice of Coverage of Abortion Services” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run health plan. Leader Reid’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions (line 13, p. 120).
What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan. It’s right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under “Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.
Section 1303(a)(2)(C) describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run health plan and for those who are given an affordability credit to purchase insurance coverage that includes abortion through the Exchange. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month.
A majority of Americans believe that health care plans should not be mandated to provide elective abortion coverage, and a majority of Americans do not believe government health care plans should include abortion coverage. Currently, federal appropriations bills include language known as the Hyde Amendment that prohibits the use of federal funds to pay for elective abortions under the Medicare and Medicaid programs, while another provision, known as the Smith Amendment, prohibits federal funding of abortion under the federal employees’ health benefits plan.
Leader Reid’s 2,074-page health care monstrosity is an affront to the American people and drastically moves away from current policy.
Change? Not So Much
Barack Obama Rewards Big Donors With Plum Jobs Overseas – Politico
He may have promised to change Washington, but President Barack Obama is continuing one of its most renowned patronage traditions: bestowing prized ambassadorships on big donors.
Of the nearly 80 ambassadorship nominations or confirmations since Obama’s Inauguration, 56 percent were given to political appointees and 44 percent have gone to career diplomats, according to records kept by the American Foreign Service Association.
The latest nomination came this week, when Beatrice Wilkinson Welters was nominated to serve as ambassador to the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago in the Caribbean.
Welters, a longtime advocate for underprivileged children, and her husband, Anthony, an executive with UnitedHealth Group, generated between $200,000 and $500,000 in donations to Obama’s presidential campaign and an additional $100,000 for his Inauguration, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a nonpartisan group that tracks political giving.
“You Guys Make A Pretty Good Photo Op”: President Obama To Troops – Long Island Democrat Examiner
President Obama has the undisputable reputation of being one of the most popular rock star style celebrity politician of the decade. President Obama seems to understand very well that millions of Americans don’t have the time to read in-depth into issues, but just have the time to glance at the photographs on newspapers, and brief video highlights on television screens. He is never shy when it comes to photo ops that will increase his appeal and popularity, and always makes sure he gets the photo ops whenever he can, wherever he can, at any cost.
During his current overseas trip, President Obama visited the Osan Air Base in South Korea. He greeted 1,500 troops there. This was his last stop in his 8 day overseas trip, before returning to Washington, DC. He arrived at 3:19pm local time at the South Korean base. The troops were dressed in camouflage uniform.
The President didn’t miss the opportunity. He remarked “You guys make a pretty good photo op”, and made the most of it.
One good thing, the troops were alive during this photo op. If President Obama doesn’t act on the request by General McChrystal, the top U.S and NATO commander in Afghanistan, for additional 40,000 troops, lot of members of our troop may not be alive for our President’s next photo op in Afghanistan! We can only hope our President gives more importance to the value of life of our troops, rather than using them just as toys for his photo-ops! We can only hope that the President sends in the 40,000 additional troops that General McChrystal requested, without further delay!
Work Site Arrests Of Illegals Fall Dramatically – Washington Times
Arrests of illegal immigrant workers have dropped precipitously under President Obama, according to figures released Wednesday.
Criminal arrests, administrative arrests, indictments and convictions of illegal immigrants at work sites all fell by more than 50 percent from fiscal 2008 to fiscal 2009.
The figures show that Mr. Obama has made good on his pledge to shift enforcement away from going after illegal immigrant workers themselves – but at the expense of Americans’ jobs, said Rep. Lamar Smith of Texas, the Republican who compiled the numbers from the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE).
Mr. Smith, the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee, said a period of economic turmoil is the wrong time to be cutting enforcement and letting illegal immigrants take jobs that Americans otherwise would hold.
“Those stolen jobs should be returned to out-of-work citizens and legal immigrants,” he said. “The Obama administration should put citizens and legal immigrants first, especially when it comes to jobs.”
Gatordoug
darcprynce
Dave C
