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Sunday, July 29, 2012

ICE COUNCIL PRESIDENT ACCUSES OBAMA ADMINISTRATION OF LYING! NEW IMMIGRATION ENFORCEMENT POLICIES FORCE AGENTS TO NOT ENFORCE LAWS!


ICE agent Chris Crane is President of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, the union representing America's more than 7,000 ICE agents and personnel. Border Patrol agent George McCubbin, III is President of the National Border Patrol Council, the union representing America's more than 17,000 border agents and personnel.
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In testimony before the House Judiciary Committee’s Immigration and Enforcement Subcommittee on Tuesday, National Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Council President Chris Crane leveled some powerful accusations against the Obama administration and the political appointees who run ICE.

Speaking in favor of the “Hinder the Administration’s Legalization Temptation Act” or the HALT Act (H.R. 2497), Crane confirmed nearly all of FAIR’s assertions that administrative amnesty is being pursued via internal directives and memos in order to circumvent Congress’s refusal to enact it legislatively.

By broadly expanding the use of prosecutorial discretion, the Administration is manipulating immigration enforcement “to satisfy complaints from immigrants’ advocacy groups,” Crane told the committee. He also warned bluntly that, “law enforcement and public safety are no longer the priority at ICE; politics are the priority at ICE.”

The ICE union president also accused the agency of publicly touting policies that are not actually enforced, such as a taskforce to track down illegal aliens who do not respond to ICE correspondence. Of the program, Crane said, “the entire policy is merely another attempt by ICE to avoid enforcing violations of U.S. immigration laws for political reasons, while simultaneously attempting to convince the public that ICE is taking some type of legitimate law enforcement action.”

When political strategy trumps immigration enforcement, Americans and legal immigrants lose. They lose not only because entire categories of illegal aliens are given amnesty. They lose because the methods used to achieve it are not transparent and run in direct contrast to the will of the American people. Perhaps, most importantly, they lose because any time an administration in power asserts for itself the right to simply ignore laws it does not like or finds inconvenient, it is a threat to the very foundation of our constitutional democracy.
Source: Immigrationreform.com 


RELATED LINKS:
The Examiner 

CHRIS CRANE TESTIMONY 10/12/2011




NATIONAL ICE COUNCIL YOU TUBE CHANNEL


CHRIS CRANE TESTIMONY 03/28/2012
CHRIS CRANE TESTIMONY 07/24/2012

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

The Theme Song For The Democratic Convention-'Lazy American Dream"


Troy Cook Jr. singing a song by Nashville songwriter, Don Bradley, about the "Lazy American Dream" that continues to erode the foundation this country was built on.

Friday, July 13, 2012

A Lesson On Our Christian Nation For President Obama (Video)

A Walk For The President. Maybe it's time for President Obama to take a walk around Washington...

In his Stoplight commentary, Stuart Shepard takes us along for a walk in the nation's capital:


CitizenLink is a family advocacy organization that inspires men and women to live out biblical citizenship that transforms culture. As an affiliate of Focus on the Family, we provide resources that equip citizens to make their voices heard on critical social policy issues involving the sanctity of human life, the preservation of religious liberties and the well-being of the family as the building block of society.

We help citizens understand and passionately engage in policy issues relevant to families from a foundation firmly established in a biblical worldview. We also encourage them to participate in the democratic process in order to forge a better future for our children and our culture.

Monday, July 9, 2012

(Video) Gov. Rick Perry: Texas Will Not Move Forward with Implementing ObamaCare: "We don't trust this administraton"


“I will not be party to socializing health care and bankrupting my state in direct contradiction to our Constitution and our founding principles of limited government,” Mr. Perry said.

Here is video of Texas Gov. Rick Perry talking about a letter he has sent to President Barack Obama’s Administration informing them that the state of Texas will not move forward with implementing ObamaCare. Perry said Texas will not expand Medicaid, nor will it set up the “HeathCare Exchanges” proscribed in the ObamaCare legislation.

Perry said to “expand this program (Medicaid) is not unlike adding a thousand people to the Titanic.”
Source: Freedom Lighthouse

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Did Obama Just Create The Power To Take Over All Communications via Executive Order? -- Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions

In the event you missed the Friday news dump, Barack Hussein Obama issued yet another executive order. Titled “Assignment of National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions,” it may be read in its entirety on the White House website here.  At first blush, it appears that the order modernizes previous communications functionality, particularly as it relates to the continuity of governmental communication during wartime or national crisis as defined by Obama.

The text of the order itself consists of 2,205 words and seven-(7) sections and multiple subsections. The policy statement (section one) seems innocuous and actually beneficial to the continuity of communications within the U.S., until one begins to dissect the order and consider it in context with other Obama issued directives. Extensive analysis of this order, in tandem with other recent Obama orders and signed legislation, suggests a disconcerting pattern of potential overreach by Obama into the area of normal and customary commercial communication systems.

Based on our analysis of this order, it would appear that the implementation of emergency communications by Obama, using all forms of wired and wireless communication systems, is redirected through the Executive branch and could expand such takeover abilities beyond the limits of an actual act of war, national emergency, or other event impacting the national security of the U.S.  The order also mandates that the Department of Homeland Security develops and submits such a plan to Obama within sixty-(60) days of this order (section 5.2(h)).

Additionally, Obama’s order completely revokes Executive Order 12472 of April 3, 1984, as amended, which established and defined the National Communication System (NCS). The purpose of the NCS is to “assist the President” in matters of emergency communications in war-time emergencies, and during “those crises or emergencies in which the exercise of the President’s war power functions is not required or permitted by law.” By the stroke of his pen, such distinctions are removed.
SOURCE: TIMES 24/7
COMPLETE ARTICLE: CANADA FREE PRESS
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Will Apple customers be forcibly bombarded with texts from President Obama's campaign?


Civil liberty commentators have expressed concerns that by signing up to the Personal Localised Alerting Network (PLAN), Apple have turned their phones into part of President Obama's re-election campaign.


The un-hearalded changes to Apples iOS 6 mobile operating system give customers the option to opt in or out of receiving alerts from FEMA or the Amber Alert program, but not to messages directly from the president.


This raises the possibility of Barack Obama using the PLAN program to send campaign messages to all of Apples mobile device users, abusing the emergency alert program.


In compliance with the National Alerting Program (NAP), Apple's devices will be able to receive important messages from the Wireless Emergency Alerts system which tells Americans statewide and nationally about serious weather or disasters.

However, now that Apple is a fully functioning part of the NAP, this is the first time that the federal executive has had a direct line to the millions of Americans who use cell-phones.

Commentators such as Infowars, Alex Jones worry that the federal government could miss-use this power.

Instead of using the emergency broadcast system for national emergencies as the radio and television set-up has always been, he feels that the frequency of mobile phone use would make updates from the president hard to ignore if they were sent.

Indeed, the ability to text any and every American telephone is something that has been discussed since PLAN, the emergency alert system was announced last year.

Based around an expansion of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) emergency alert system, the original alerts were designed be sent out over radio and television in the event of a nuclear war.

However, PLAN is text-based and allows warnings to be localised or sent nationally.
Rolled out by both the FCC and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), it can only be done with the cooperation of the cellular service providers and manufacturers, which Apple has now done.

'PLAN ensures that emergency alerts will not get stuck in highly congested user areas, which can happen with standard mobile voice and texting services,' said FEMA to the LA Times.

In addition to the text alerts sent by PLAN through to mobile phones, they will also carry a different vibrate and alert noise to differentiated them to people with hearing or vision difficulties.


However, as commentators such as Jones protest, even though the alerts can be switched off for missing children and emergency events, any communication from the president can not be.

This essentially means that every single new Apple wireless device is now contactable by Barack Obama.

'The stage has been set for a consistently growing number of people in the US to have capability to receive alerts from local, state, and federal officials through the initiative led by FEMA's Integrated Public Alert and Warning System program,' Rick Wimberly wrote on his blog on Emergency Management.
SOURCE: DAILY MAIL
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***PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU***

Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN)

Personal Localized Alerting Network

What is PLAN?

  • The Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN) (technically the Commercial Mobile Alert System) is a new public safety system that allows customers who own an enabled mobile device to receive geographically-targeted text-like messages alerting them of imminent threats to safety in their area.
  • This new technology ensures that emergency alerts will not get stuck in highly congested user areas which can happen with standard mobile voice and texting services. PLAN enables government officials to target emergency alerts to specific geographic areas through cell towers, which push the information to dedicated receivers in PLAN-enabled mobile devices.
  • PLAN complements the existing Emergency Alert System (EAS) which is provided by broadcasters and other media service providers and overseen by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the National Weather Service at the federal level. PLAN and EAS are part of an integrated public alert and warning system being developed by FEMA to allow the public to receive emergency alerts over multiple communications technologies.
  • Wireless companies volunteer to participate in PLAN. PLAN is the result of a unique public/private partnership between the FCC, FEMA and the wireless industry, with the singular objective of enhancing public safety.
  • The FCC’s rules require participating wireless carriers to deploy PLAN technology by April 7, 2012. Some participants, however, have committed to offer PLAN ahead of schedule (i.e. by the end of 2011). These carriers include AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. PLAN was established pursuant to the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act.

How Does it Work?

  • Authorized national, state or local government officials send alerts regarding public safety emergencies such as a tornado or a terrorist to PLAN.
  • PLAN authenticates the alert, verifies that the sender is authorized, and sends it to participating wireless carriers.
  • Participating wireless carriers push the alerts from cell towers to mobile phones in the affected area. The alerts appear like text messages on mobile devices.

Features

  • Geographically Targeted: A customer living in downtown New York would not receive a threat alert if he or she happens to be in Chicago when the alert is sent. Similarly, someone visiting downtown New York from Chicago on that same day would receive the alert, assuming the customer has a PLAN-enabled mobile device and his or her wireless carriers participates in PLAN.
  • Customers Automatically Signed Up: PLAN allows government officials to send emergency alerts to all subscribers with PLAN-capable devices if their wireless carriers participate in the program. Consumers do not need to sign-up for this service.
  • Alerts Are Free: Customers do not pay to receive PLAN alerts.
  • Covers Only Critical Emergency Alerts: Consumers will receive only three types of alerts from PLAN: (1) alerts issued by the President; (2) alerts involving imminent threats to safety of life; and (3) Amber Alerts. Participating carriers may allow subscribers to block all but the Presidential alerts.
  • Unique Signal and Vibration: A PLAN alert will be accompanied by a unique attention signal and vibration, which is particularly helpful to people with hearing or vision-related disabilities.

Information on Carrier Participation

Plan Documents

SOURCE: PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY BUREAU
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US government mandates special "emergency alerts" chip in all cell phones by 2012

The service is called "Personal Localized Alerting Network" or "PLAN" (technically called the "Commercial Mobile Alert System") and is scheduled to be available in New York by the end of 2011 and throughout the United States by April 2012, as a consequence of the Warning, Alert and Response Network (WARN) Act passed by Congress in 2006, which allocated $106 million to fund the program[1].

All new phones will be required to have the special chip, and according to AT&T spokesman Robert Quinn, some iPhones and Android phones already have it. It is confirmed that the Droid X (released in June 2010) does support PLAN and has a special "Emergency Alerts" app. Although this means the chip has been out there for at least one year, there is no precise list of which phones have the chips.

Carriers that will participate ahead of schedule are AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon. The alerts will be text-like messages of 90 characters or less, and they'll be geographically targeted using GPS technology (does this mean that the chip will send your location continuously?). Alerts will be accompanied by a unique attention signal and vibration (helpful to people with hearing or vision disabilities). The PLAN alert will appear as a pop-up text, different from regular text messages. PC World reported that the alerts "eventually might include audio and video content".

Alerts will be pushed via wireless carrier cell towers, but are designed to not suffer from the congestion that can affect regular SMS text messages.

The CMAS Third Report and Order mentions that cost recovery is left as a decision for carriers: they may choose to absorb the costs themselves, or pass them on to customers.

Phones that already have the PLAN technology

* Motorola Droid X (sources)
* Sanyo Innuendo (source: Sprint spokesperson Crystal Davis,  571-288-6806 , crystal.davisATsprint.com via Business Wire)
* Sanyo Vera (source: as above)
* Sprint "plans to launch more PLAN-capable mobile devices later this year, and include PLAN technology in all new Sprint phones by the end of 2011." (source: as above)

Has anyone heard of this? It's been 3 weeks since the news was out and I haven't seen any followup in the media. The technical information is also extremely scarce. A few questions can be raised.

Concerns with the PLAN chip

UPDATE: see a comment from reddit, which addresses most of these issues.

1. Why is there so little precise technical information on a measure that will affect every single phone manufactured since 2012?

2. The cited reason for having an extra chip embedded in each cell phone is that the current SMS infrastructure can get congested in times of emergency. However, PLAN still uses wireless carrier cell towers to push messages (as opposed to a different frequency, like the ones used for radio clock synchronization or GPS). The GSM standard already supports Cell Broadcast (CB) messaging. This FCC paper from 2007 states that "Cell broadcast is already resident in most network infrastructure and in most phones, so there is no need to build any towers, lay any cable, write any software, or replace terminals". What is the exact justification of the extra chip? If the existence of the chip is a misunderstanding of the media, then why don't existing phones work with the system already? Why do we need new phones that are "PLAN-capable"?

3. Why limit the system to 90 characters of text, instead of relying on the existing multimedia message infrastructure, which can be used to send, for example, such critical information as a photo of an evacuation map? Also, the system is not backward compatible with the over 300 million mobile phones already in place in the United States, while using SMS is (more on these issues). It will take a few years (5?) for all phones to support PLAN. How many lives will be lost in the meantime? SMS is available now. Also, old people, the ones most likely to be affected by certain kinds of emergencies, tend to use very simple phones and to be very late adopters of new technology. Their phones do support SMS though.

4. Does the technology use GPS, as BBC mentions? The battery drain and surveillance implications are major.

5. Users can't opt out of “Presidential” messages. What safeguards are in place that would prevent an oppressive government from abusing this technology?

6. The design of the system is not available. How can the users know that it won't be abused? The chip could be programmed to snap a picture from the phone's camera, or to covertly record audio, upon receiving a certain signal. Remote activation of a phone's microphone has already been done by the FBI using the so-called roving bug.

7. What is to prevent the government-required software from receiving a certain signal or message which would disable the cell phone or its Internet access (useful in times of civil unrest, as has been seen in the Arab Spring revolts)?

8. Will rooting phones or custom ROMs become illegal, especially if one modifies the function of how the PLAN network interacts with the smartphone?

Sources and media coverage

The only first-hand press coverage I've seen dates from May 10-11, and there's been nothing since.

* National Emergency Alert System Set To Launch In NYC, with audio from the announcement. 800+ users comments, mostly against the idea. "For now, the alerts are capable on certain high-end cell phones but starting next year, all cell phones will be required to have the chip that receives alerts."
* Engadget - text of the press release. "Participating carriers are including PLAN chips in their new phones, and many recently purchased phones already have the chip and only will require a software upgrade."
* Wired: Bloomberg, FEMA, FCC Detail NYC Emergency Notification System: "The assembled wireless-company executives, including AT&T CEO Randall L. Stephenson and Verizon CEO Ivan Seidenberg, pledged their support for the system and said new devices will be equipped with a PLAN chip. [...] a list of compatible phones would be posted soon on the FCC’s website [...] Officials didn’t go into detail about the technical specifications of the new network."
* PC World: FCC Calls for Mobile Alert System (2008): "The alerts initially would be text only, though with vibration and audio signals for people with disabilities. They eventually might include audio and video content." (confirmed at FCC's site)
* MacDailyNews: U.S. gov’t mandates special chip in all cellphones; users can’t opt out of presidential messages: "It will use GPS technology and will send some of the alerts based on the location of the phone user."
* Daily Mail UK: Don't write off a text message from the president as a prank: It's an emergency and he might just save your life...: "A special chip is required to allow the phone to receive the messages"
* NY Times: Emergency Alert System Expected for Cellphones: "special chip [...] is currently included in some higher-end smartphones like the latest iPhones"
* USA Today: Cellphones get emergency alerts: "Some current cellphones, including some iPhones and some Android phones, already have the circuitry required to receive PLAN alerts. The iPhones that have the capacity to get alerts, says AT&T's Robert Quinn, will require software modifications. New AT&T phones due out in October will be PLAN-ready."
* NY Post: "Officials said at least three models already have the chip: the Droid X, the iPhone 4 and the Innuendo." The emergency alert feature and app (which can't be uninstalled) are confirmed on the Droid X. Note that the Droid X was released in July 2010.
* BBC: Mobile phone emergency alert system to launch in US: "Mr Bloomberg unveiled the Personal Localized Alerting Network, or Plan, on Tuesday, explaining that the system will implemented through a special chip installed on new mobile phones. The system works through GPS technology and will send some of the alerts based on a user's location."
* AFP: US alert system targets mobile phones: "The alerts will be text-like messages of 90 characters or less."
* Associated Press: Cellphone alert system announced in NYC: "A special chip is required to allow the phone to receive the messages. Some smartphones already have the chip, and software updates will be available when the network goes online later this year."
* FEMA page - no technical details, and nothing beyond what the press said
* slashdot and reddit

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What you need to know about Wireless Emergency Alerts

June 21, 2012|By Chris Durden | KWCH 12 Eyewitness News
(WICHITA, Kan.) —

The Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are a partnership between the National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

They alerts are also known as the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) or Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN).

Types of Alerts:
  • Presidential Alerts – Alerts issued by the President or a designee
  • Imminent Threat Alerts – Alerts that include severe man-made or natural disasters, such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, etc., where an imminent threat to life or property exists
  • AMBER Alerts – Alerts that meet the U.S. Department of Justice’s criteria to help law enforcement search for and locate an abducted child.
How Do I Get The Alerts?
You need WEA capable phone in order to receive the mesages. Not all service providers are capable of issuing them. The ones that are include AT&T, Sprint, Verizon, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular.

Do I Have to Sign Up?
No. These alerts will automatically come to your WEA capable device starting in June.

Will the Alert be Customized to My Location?
Yes.

Are the Alerts Different Than a Normal Text Message?
Yes. WEA messages include a special tone and vibration, which are repeated twice.
The alert messages do not disrupt text, calls or data sessions that are in progress. 
What Do I Do After getting a WEA?
The alert will contain instructions. There could be updates to the information in the initial alert, so be sure you monitor your device. You should also check other sources like TV, radio or the internet for additional information.

Do I Have to Pay For the Messages?
No. The alerts are free. WEA messages will not count toward limits on your wireless plan.

Can I Opt Out?
Yes. Visit http://www.ctia.org/wea to opt out.

What If I Have Additional Questions?
You can visit http://www.ctia.org/consumer_info/safety/index.cfm/AID/12081
Storm Team 12 can help you follow the storms no matter where you are headed. We offer two different Apps for all of your weather needs.

Download the Storm Team 12 App for interactive radar and current conditions by zip code.  Also download the KWCH App, where you can watch streaming video of our Always On Storm Team 12 Weather Channel, channel 12.2. There you can also send us your storm shots and receive weather alerts.  The Apps are free to download for i-Phone, i-Pad and Android.
         If you don't have a smart phone, Text Me 12 can also alert you to storms.
SOURCE: KWCH EYEWITNESS NEWS

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Severe weather warnings go mobile

8:15 PM, Jun 18, 2012 AT

ALANTA -- Starting this week, most Americans will be able to get  severe weather warnings sent straight to their cell phones, no matter where they are in the country. 

The free Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are a partnership between the National Weather Service, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC).

They're also known as the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS) or Personal Localized Alerting Network (PLAN). 

And most people don't have to do anything to get the warnings. 

Will it come to my phone?
You will have to have a WEA capable phone in order to receive them. Not all providers are capable of issuing these alerts. The ones that are include AT&T, Bluegrass Cellular, Cellcom, Sprint Nextel, Verizon, T-Mobile and U.S. Cellular. 


Does it cost any money?
No. This service is offered for free by wireless carriers. WEA messages will not count towards texting limits on your wireless plan. 


Do I have to sign up for it?
No. These will automatically come to your WEA capable device starting this week. If you do not want them, you can opt out of receiving WEA messages for imminent threats and AMBER Alerts, but not for Presidential messages. To opt out visit http://www.ctia.org/wea for the instructions.


What types of warnings will they be?
- Tsunami Warnings
- Tornado Warnings
- Flash Flood Warnings
- Hurricane and Typhoon Warnings
- Extreme Wind Warnings
- Blizzard and Ice Storm Warnings
- Dust Storm Warnings
- AMBER Alerts
- Presidential Alerts (such as national emergencies) 


What will a warning look like?
These alerts will look like any normal text message. The WEA message will show the type and time of the alert, along with any action you should take. These messages will be limited to 90 characters.


Does it follow you?
If you travel into a threat area after an alert is first sent, your WEA-capable device will receive the message when you enter the area. So if you are vacationing to Florida, your phone's GPS will notice and give you alerts only for the county you are in, NOT your home county. The program does not, however, track you or your phone. Just like when TV stations put up emergency weather alerts, the stations, like WEA, don't know exactly who is tuned in. 


Why is this important to me?
Alerts received at the right time can help keep you safe during an emergency. With WEA, alerts can be sent to your mobile device when you may be in harm's way, without need to download an app or subscribe to a service. 


How will I know the difference between WEA and a regular text message?
WEA messages include a special tone and vibration, both repeated twice. 


Is this the same service public safety agencies have asked the public to register for?
No, but they are complementary. Local agencies may have asked you to sign up to receive telephone calls, text messages, or emails. Those messages often include specific details about a critical event. WEA messages are very short and designed to get your attention in an emergency situation. They may not give all the details you receive from other notification services. 


Will a WEA message interrupt my phone conversations?
No, the alert will be delayed until you finish your call. 


How often will I receive WEA messages?
You may receive frequent WEA messages during an emergency. Message frequency depends on the number of imminent threats to life or property in your area. 


If, during an emergency, I can't make or receive calls or text messages due to network congestion, will I still be able to receive a WEA message?
Yes, WEA messages are not affected by network congestion. 


The NWS issues warnings for smaller areas, called polygons. Will my cell phone receive the tornado warning alert if my location is outside of this polygon?
Your cell phone will pick up the tornado warning alert even if was issued for only a part of the county (only county code is used -- all or nothing). The current (2012) software program isn't capable of narrowing down the alert for just those cell phones located within the polygon warning. 


How will I receive alerts if I don't have a WEA-capable device?
WEA is one of many ways you can receive emergency notifications. Other sources include NOAA Weather Radio, news media coverage, the Emergency Alert System on radio and TV broadcasts, social media, and other alerting methods offered by local and state public safety agencies. Your best use of WEA is to immediately seek additional information about the imminent thr
eat impacting your area. 
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RELATED ARTICLES:
DID YOU KNOW THE FEDS WILL TEMPORARILY CUT OFF ALL TV AND RADIO BROADCASTS ON NOVEMBER 9TH (2011)
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Thursday, July 5, 2012

In 1994, Axelrod Warned Against Happy Talk On Economy


The White House is struggling to talk about a weak recovery in terms Americans — who may not feel the recovery — can identify with, and veterans of the Clinton Administration criticized President Obama's political team yesterday for failing to present a more aggressive plan to improve life for the middle class.

In 1994, Democrats faced a similar challenge, and a C-SPAN roundtable mulled the issue.
One of its members, Democratic consultant David Axelrod, sounded then a bit like the Clintonites do today.

"One of the interesting things about this is that as you cite these statistics that say the economy is improving, you almost do political damage to yourself. If you stand up and claim great progress you’re only frustrating this alienated middle class more," Axelrod said.

The moderator, John Callaway, noted that Ronald Reagan had been able to talk up the economy in 1984, while George H. W. Bush had been unable to in 1992.
 "Bush tastelessly did it often from the ninth hole and from the cigar boat and other places. And the impression you got was that he was out of touch," Axelrod said.

"You still like to beat up on Bush?” Callaway asked.

“It’s the only thing we have left," Axelrod responded.

Axelrod is now Obama's chief strategist, of course, and is reliving the Democratic debates over how to talk about the economy. In 1996, a new set of Clinton aides led by Dick Morris, Mark Penn, and Doug Schoen, successfully persuaded the president to move from feeling voters' pain to cheerleading a recovery, a successfully strategy at a moment of more cheerful economic indicators.
SOURCE: BUZZFEED

TURNING POINT USA~THE YOUTH MOVEMENT STANDING UP TO BIG GOVERNMENT


The founders of SOS Liberty  have started a new movement by the name of Turning Point USA.
High school students are starting a movement to change the conversation about the direction our country is going.
"Fighting for a return to fiscal responsibility, Turning Point USA is a group of students campaigning to lower the debt & deficit so our generation can prosper."
Here is the information about Turning Point USA from their Facebook Page:
These students are also involved in SOS Liberty. (Links below)
About
We are a group of students, tired of Washington spending our future away. Stand with us in sending Washington a BIG message! 
Mission
The Turning Point's mission is to make fiscal responsibility our business. We hope to change the national political culture, and to promote sensible cuts to major government expenditures. We want to inspire the youth, and to cultivate a new generation of politically active citizens. Our aim is to change the collective conversation, and to make the national debt the hot-button issue of the 2012 national elections. The ultimate goal of The Turning Point is to turn America's deficits into surpluses.
Description
The Turning Point has a very clear message to Washington: stop over spending! We are a student-led group, and we are crying out for help! Across the nation, we are sounding the alarms due to the generational THEFT that is taking place! The Turning Point is a non-partisan group that is fighting to give young Americans a voice. This is our fight with the establishment, as we will not stand for the current spending practices that are unjust and generationalist in nature. It's time that we turn around America, and turn around our budget! End the red, and get us back in the black!
SOURCE: FOX NEWS
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



If we live above our means today,
we will be forced to live below our means tomorrow.

SOS Liberty is a student-led group of high school and university students who are concerned about our generation’s future.  With members across the USA, our mission is to educate our fellow Americans about the dangers of our nation’s spiraling debt and deficits.  As students, we feel it’s imperative to shed light on the magnitude of our national debt crisis since we are the generation that is going to be stuck with the bill.

We are a group of passionate student activists who are sending out an SOS call for help before our generation drowns in a sea of debt.  As we make our voices heard, we seek to WAKE UP our fellow citizens to the GENERATIONAL THEFT that is taking place!  Each high school student today is inheriting an average debt of $870,000 which is grossly unfair considering that most high schoolers cannot even vote yet.  SOS Liberty believes older generations are essentially stealing our future and we’re not too happy about it.  We understand that politicians often have good intentions, however we believe that good intentions do not always translate into good public policy.  Our movement hopes to mobilize both younger and older generations to support sound fiscal policies before it’s too late.

SOS Liberty sends student speakers throughout the Midwest delivering speeches, videos and PowerPoint presentations followed by a question and answer period.  We have spoken to many community organizations, schools, and youth groups and have received rave reviews from our audiences.  We have appeared on local radio, TV and numerous podcasts.  Our student activism has received coverage by NBC News, Illinois Review, Breitbart.com and the Dallas Morning News.  We have received endorsements from members of Congress, and we broadcast several weekly radio shows to a nationwide audience.

Our student group does not adhere to rigid party lines but rather represents ideals that can be accepted regardless of where one stands on the political spectrum.  Liberal members of SOS appreciate our objective of keeping important government programs solvent such as Medicare and Social Security.  To conservatives, SOS Liberty is a group that champions free markets and promotes less government spending.  Independents support SOS Liberty’s goal of resolving the debt crisis so that an undue burden is not placed on younger generations.  We are a nonpartisan, volunteer group of students who are sounding the alarm that a fiscal storm is fast approaching.  The common thread which ties us all together is our  dream of handing off to each successive generation the torch of freedom, hope and  opportunity.

SOS Liberty is a solution-driven organization which believes in our Constitution and aims to teach our peers about fiscal responsibility and free market principles.  We believe solutions can be found by exploring ideas such as a balanced budget amendment, term limits, cutting wasteful government spending and tying congressional pay to reducing the multi-trillion dollar deficits being passed on to our generation.  Our goal is to galvanize our fellow students so together we can stop the generational theft that is stealing our future.

There is no fee to join SOS Liberty (though we are very grateful for any donations).  We invite you to join us in our call for action and take a stand for our generation, our future, our country.

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In two weeks I will graduate from Wheeling High School. It is going to be a day to remember for the rest of my life. My principal will hand me a diploma, but that diploma is also an invoice for $870,000 – my share of America’s 2012 debt burden. The average American earns $1.3 million during their working career. When we factor in future deficit spending and interest, every single high school student owes the federal government more than they will ever earn in their lifetime. Since the day I was born, the United States has accrued eleven trillion dollars worth of new debt; and for those eighteen years of my existence, I haven’t even had a say in it.

Last August, as I watched our divided government tear our democracy apart, my friend Mike Diamond and I decided to take action against Washington’s disregard for the future of this country.

It all began as an idea, to speak for our generation, the one who will be paying for Washington’s massive debts and deficits.

Mike and I spoke at political organizations all across Illinois, working our way up the local political ladder. As we progressed we noticed individuals were very sympathetic to our cause; not only because we are students, but because it’s difficult to argue with common sense.

Growing up I was taught the basic principle of not spending money I don’t have. However, this traditional American value seems to have sunk in a sea of debt.

Over the past two months Mike and I began organizing a network of concerned students from all across the country. Through Facebook and Twitter we reached over four million people. Our message of fiscal responsibility and living within your means was resonating all across the country.

We decided, in collaboration with close friends and family, to name our organization SOS Liberty. 
SOS is the international distress call for help, which is appropriate since my generation is drowning in an ocean on debt. Without real solutions and reforms we will never be able turn this ship around. But first, the distress call has to be heard.

I noticed that politics was the last thing on my friends’ minds. “I’ll start caring about politics when I turn eighteen,” they would say. Unfortunately, most teenagers do not have an “on” and “off” switch that flips the day they turn eighteen, making them care about politics. Most teenagers don’t realize that they will be stuck with a tab that’s been running for generations. They don’t realize that every cent will have to be paid back -- plus interest.

That’s where SOS Liberty comes in. Our goal is to change the conversation. Change the conversation of teenagers, so they realize the negative implications of such a large debt.

Change the conversation of the voters, so they elect leaders with the future in mind, and not only the present.

Change the conversation of the politicians, so they take the next generation into consideration before signing off on more spending.

SOS Liberty not only wants to change the conversation, but change the language of the conversation as well. Instead of focusing on the debt as a Republican or Democrat issue, we see it as a generational issue -- an American issue. Rather than dividing our people, we want to unite them under the tenets of fiscal responsibility.
The power of our message lies in us being students. Many miscategorize us as a Republican think tank, or a radical wing extension of Ron Paul's presidential campaign. Our cause and message transcends party lines, aligning with people all across the political spectrum.

To conservatives, SOS Liberty is a group that champions free markets and constrains big government spending. Liberals appreciate our goal of keeping important government programs such as Medicare and Social Security solvent.

To independents, SOS Liberty is a group that seeks to resolve the debt crisis so that it does not put an undue burden onto the coming generation. Our message transcends party lines because it is one that unites, rather than divides.

With graduation coming up, rather than seeing my diploma as an invoice I will never be able to repay, I want to see it as a fiscal predicament we still have time to turn around.

The road is set before us. We are on a path of unsustainable debt, and without immediate action, my future and my children’s future will be forever jeopardized.

There is significant promise in my generation. It is not too late to turn our fiscal ship around. 
Together we, the young people of America, can send a clear and concise message to every single Congressman, Senator, and Representative: We can’t afford it.

Charlie Kirk is the co-founder of SOS Liberty (www.sosliberty.com) and will be attending Baylor University this fall.

Read more: Fox News
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ADDITIONAL LINKS-PLEASE CHECK THESE OUT!
TURNING POINT USA
TURNING POINT USA FACEBOOK
TURNING POINT USA TWITTER
SOS LIBERTY
SOS LIBERTY YOU TUBE CHANNEL
LIBERTY.COM

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

Could UN Arms Treaty Infringe On US Constitution?

Could UN Arms Treaty Infringe On US Constitution?

July 3, 2012


Talks begin at UN on global arms trade treaty

The world's nations began a final push Tuesday for the first legally binding global treaty that would regulate the international arms trade and try to prevent the transfer of weapons to armed groups and terrorists.

The 193-member U.N. General Assembly is expected to approve the treaty, which has been in the works since 2006, when the U.S. voted against the resolution that launched the process. The Obama administration later reversed the George W. Bush administration's position and supported an assembly resolution to hold this year's four-week Conference on the Arms Trade Treaty.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon opened the conference after a delay amid reports of disagreement over the role of the Palestinian delegation. Ban said that while the world has made progress on regulating weapons of mass destruction, work on conventional arms has lagged.

"Our common goal is clear: a robust and legally binding Arms Trade Treaty that will have a real impact on the lives of those millions of people suffering from the consequences of armed conflict, repression and armed violence," Ban said. "It is ambitious, but it is achievable."

Led by the United Kingdom, nations have worked to create a treaty that would promote transparency and accountability in the arms trade and prevent international transfers of arms that contribute to serious human rights violations, armed conflict, U.N. sanctions violations, organized crime and terrorist acts. It would not ban the sale of any kinds of guns.

As the escalating conflict in Syria loomed over the conference, questions remained on whether a final treaty would contain strong human rights provisions or cover ammunition as well.

The foreign ministers of the U.K., France, Germany and Sweden wrote in a Monday editorial in the Guardian newspaper that the treaty "should cover all types of conventional weapons, notably including small arms and light weapons, all types of munitions, and related technologies. It is also of great importance that the treaty includes strong provisions on human rights, international humanitarian law and sustainable development."

In April, the U.S. assistant secretary of state for international security and nonproliferation, Thomas Countryman, reiterated U.S. support for a treaty, but not one that regulates ammunition.

"We want any treaty to make it more difficult and expensive to conduct illicit, illegal and destabilizing transfers of arms," he said. "But we do not want something that would make legitimate international arms trade more cumbersome than the hurdles United States exporters already face."

Supporters of a treaty say it will close loopholes that allow arms dealers to evade the strict laws that already exist in countries like the U.S. and transfer guns through weaker states. Only 52 nations have laws regulating arms brokers, and less than half of those impose criminal or monetary penalties for illegal gun sales, according to Oxfam America.

Republicans in Congress have expressed their opposition. Last week, in a letter to President Barack Obama, 130 members wrote that a treaty was "likely to pose significant threats to our national security, foreign policy, and economic interests as well as our constitutional rights." They called for the rejection of any treaty that would prevent the U.S. from supplying arms to allies like Israel and Taiwan.

Read more: Fox News

Sunday, July 1, 2012

USDA Suggests ‘Food Stamp Parties’ to Boost Enrollment

USDA Suggests ‘Food Stamp Parties’ to Boost Enrollment

MUST WATCH VIDEO: FOX BUSINESS
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USDA suggests food stamp parties, games to increase participation


While spending on the food stamp program has increased 100 percent under President Barack Obama, the government continues to push more Americans to enroll in the welfare program.

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has embraced entire promotional campaigns designed to encourage eligible Americans to participate in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.

A pamphlet currently posted at the USDA website encourages local SNAP offices to throw parties as one way to get potentially eligible seniors to enroll in the program.

“Throw a Great Party. Host social events where people mix and mingle,” the agency advises. “Make it fun by having activities, games, food, and entertainment, and provide information about SNAP. Putting SNAP information in a game format like BINGO, crossword puzzles, or even a ‘true/false’ quiz is fun and helps get your message across in a memorable way.”

The Right Mix for Reaching Seniors

The agency’s most recent outreach effort targets California, Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio and the New York metro area with radio ads.

The ads have been running since March and are scheduled to continue through the end of June — at a cost of $2.5 million — $3 million, CNN Money reported Monday.

CNN Money further noted that the USDA began running paid radio ads in 2004, under President George W. Bush, who oversaw a 63 percent increase in average food stamp participation.

In the 1970s, one out of every 50 Americans was on food stamps. Today one our of every seven receive the benefit. After the recession, the ratio is expected to hover around one out of every nine, according to the Congressional Budget Office.

Despite the high rate of food stamp participation, the USDA has numerous blueprints posted on their website aimed at getting more people to enroll in SNAP. A 2009 State Outreach Plan Guidance explains why the agency believes states should adopt strategies to get more people on the rolls:
Outreach Can Help Increase Participation in SNAP Resulting in Multiple Benefits for Participants, States, and Communities: SNAP is the cornerstone of the nation’s nutrition safety net and an investment in our future. SNAP offers the opportunity for improved nutrition and progress toward economic self-sufficiency for participants who become stronger members of the community. However, too many low income people, especially seniors, working people, and legal immigrants, who are eligible for SNAP do not participate and thus forego assistance that could stretch their food dollars and help improve their nutrition.
According to the USDA, greater food stamp usage can be an economic plus for states and communities.

“Every $5 in new SNAP benefits generates $9.20 in an additional community spending,” the USDA contends in their outreach guidance. “If the national participation rate rose five percentage points, 1.9 million more low-income people would have an additional $1.3 billion in benefits per year to use to purchase healthy food and $2.5 billion total in new economic activity would be generated nationwide.”

During debate on the 2012 farm bill earlier this month, Senate Republicans pushed for amendments aimed at reducing the cost and participation in the food stamp program.

The Democratically controlled Senate voted down Republican efforts — denying amendments targeting the swelling rolls that were introduced by Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul, and others from Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions — arguing they could reduce access to those in need.

Read more:  The Daily Caller
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This administration is obviously using the Cloward-Piven strategy of overwhelming our sytem in order to destroy it.  (read more about this strategy below):

The Cloward-Piven Strategy: Overwhelm The System In Order To Destroy It

First proposed in 1966 and named after Columbia University sociologists Richard Andrew Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, the "Cloward-Piven Strategy" seeks to hasten the fall of capitalism by overloading the government bureaucracy with a flood of impossible demands, thus pushing society into crisis and economic collapse.
 
Inspired by the August 1965 riots in the black district of Watts in Los Angeles (which erupted after police had used batons to subdue a black man suspected of drunk driving), Cloward and Piven published an article titled "The Weight of the Poor: A Strategy to End Poverty" in the May 2, 1966 issue of The Nation.  Following its publication, The Nation sold an unprecedented 30,000 reprints.  Activists were abuzz over the so-called "crisis strategy" or "Cloward-Piven Strategy," as it came to be called. Many were eager to put it into effect.
 
In their 1966 article, Cloward and Piven charged that the ruling classes used welfare to weaken the poor; that by providing a social safety net, the rich doused the fires of rebellion.  Poor people can advance only when "the rest of society is afraid of them," Cloward told The New York Times on September 27, 1970.  Rather than placating the poor with government hand-outs, wrote Cloward and Piven, activists should work to sabotage and destroy the welfare system; the collapse of the welfare state would ignite a political and financial crisis that would rock the nation; poor people would rise in revolt; only then would "the rest of society" accept their demands.
 
The key to sparking this rebellion would be to expose the inadequacy of the welfare state.  Cloward-Piven's early promoters cited radical organizer Saul Alinsky as their inspiration.  "Make the enemy live up to their (sic) own book of rules," Alinsky wrote in his 1972 book Rules for Radicals.  When pressed to honor every word of every law and statute, every Judaeo-Christian moral tenet, and every implicit promise of the liberal social contract, human agencies inevitably fall short.  The system's failure to "live up" to its rule book can then be used to discredit it altogether, and to replace the capitalist "rule book" with a socialist one.
 
The authors noted that the number of Americans subsisting on welfare -- about 8 million, at the time -- probably represented less than half the number who were technically eligible for full benefits.  They proposed a "massive drive to recruit the poor onto the welfare rolls."  Cloward and Piven calculated that persuading even a fraction of potential welfare recipients to demand their entitlements would bankrupt the system.  The result, they predicted, would be "a profound financial and political crisis" that would unleash "powerful forces … for major economic reform at the national level."
 
Their article called for "cadres of aggressive organizers" to use "demonstrations to create a climate of militancy."  Intimidated by threats of black violence, politicians would appeal to the federal government for help.  

Carefully orchestrated media campaigns, carried out by friendly, leftwing journalists, would float the idea of "a federal program of income redistribution," in the form of a guaranteed living income for all -- working and non-working people alike.  Local officials would clutch at this idea like drowning men to a lifeline.  They would apply pressure on Washington to implement it. With every major city erupting into chaos, Washington would have to act.   

This was an example of what are commonly called Trojan Horse movements -- mass movements whose outward purpose seems to be providing material help to the downtrodden, but whose real objective is to draft poor people into service as revolutionary foot soldiers; to mobilize poor people en masse to overwhelm government agencies with a flood of demands beyond the capacity of those agencies to meet.  The flood of demands was calculated to break the budget, jam the bureaucratic gears into gridlock, and bring the system crashing down. Fear, turmoil, violence and economic collapse would accompany such a breakdown -- providing perfect conditions for fostering radical change.   That was the theory.
 
Cloward and Piven recruited a militant black organizer named George Wiley to lead their new movement.  In the summer of 1967, Wiley founded the National Welfare Rights Organization (NWRO).  His tactics closely followed the recommendations set out in Cloward and Piven's article.  His followers invaded welfare offices across the United States -- often violently -- bullying social workers and loudly demanding every penny to which the law "entitled" them.  By 1969, NWRO claimed a dues-paying membership of 22,500 families, with 523 chapters across the nation.
 
Regarding Wiley's tactics, The New York Times commented on September 27, 1970, "There have been sit-ins in legislative chambers, including a United States Senate committee hearing, mass demonstrations of several thousand welfare recipients, school boycotts, picket lines, mounted police, tear gas, arrests -- and, on occasion, rock-throwing, smashed glass doors, overturned desks, scattered papers and ripped-out phones.  

"These methods proved effective.  The flooding succeeded beyond Wiley's wildest dreams," writes Sol Stern in the City Journal. 

"From 1965 to 1974, the number of single-parent households on welfare soared from 4.3 million to 10.8 million, despite mostly flush economic times.  By the early 1970s, one person was on the welfare rolls in New York City for every two working in the city's private economy."  

As a direct result of its massive welfare spending, New York City was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1975.  The entire state of New York nearly went down with it.  The Cloward-Piven strategy had proved its effectiveness.

The Cloward-Piven strategy depended on surprise.  Once society recovered from the initial shock, the backlash began. New York's welfare crisis horrified America, giving rise to a reform movement which culminated in "the end of welfare as we know it" -- the 1996 Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act, which imposed time limits on federal welfare, along with strict eligibility and work requirements.  Both Cloward and Piven attended the White House signing of the bill as guests of President Clinton.
 
Most Americans to this day have never heard of Cloward and Piven.  But New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani attempted to expose them in the late 1990s. 

As his drive for welfare reform gained momentum, Giuliani accused the militant scholars by name, citing their 1966 manifesto as evidence that they had engaged in deliberate economic sabotage.  "This wasn't an accident," Giuliani charged in a 1997 speech.  "It wasn't an atmospheric thing, it wasn't supernatural. This is the result of policies and programs designed to have the maximum number of people get on welfare."
 
Cloward and Piven never again revealed their intentions as candidly as they had in their 1966 article.  Even so, their activism in subsequent years continued to rely on the tactic of overloading the system.  When the public caught on to their welfare scheme, Cloward and Piven simply moved on, applying pressure to other sectors of the bureaucracy, wherever they detected weakness.

In 1982, partisans of the Cloward-Piven strategy founded a new "voting rights movement," which purported to take up the unfinished work of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

Like ACORN, the organization that spear-headed this campaign, the new "voting rights" movement was led by veterans of George Wiley's welfare rights crusade. Its flagship organizations were Project Vote and Human SERVE, both founded in 1982.  

Project Vote is an ACORN front group, launched by former NWRO organizer and ACORN co-founder Zach Polett.  Human SERVE was founded by Richard A. Cloward and Frances Fox Piven, along with a former NWRO organizer named Hulbert James. 

All three of these organizations -- ACORN, Project Vote and Human SERVE -- set to work lobbying energetically for the so-called Motor-Voter law, which Bill Clinton ultimately signed in 1993.  

The Motor-Voter bill is largely responsible for swamping the voter rolls with "dead wood" -- invalid registrations signed in the name of deceased, ineligible or non-existent people -- thus opening the door to the unprecedented levels of voter fraud and "voter disenfranchisement" claims that followed in subsequent elections.

The new "voting rights" coalition combines mass voter registration drives -- typically featuring high levels of fraud -- with systematic intimidation of election officials in the form of frivolous lawsuits, unfounded charges of "racism" and "disenfranchisement," and "direct action" (street protests, violent or otherwise).  

Just as they swamped America's welfare offices in the 1960s, Cloward-Piven devotees now seek to overwhelm the nation's understaffed and poorly policed electoral system.  

Their tactics set the stage for the Florida recount crisis of 2000, and have introduced a level of fear, tension and foreboding to U.S. elections heretofore encountered mainly in Third World countries. 

Both the Living Wage and Voting Rights movements depend heavily on financial support from George Soros's Open Society Institute and his "Shadow Party," through whose support the Cloward-Piven strategy continues to provide a blueprint for some of the Left's most ambitious campaigns.

Cloward-Piven Obama link
Health Reform by Cloward and Piven
Cloward & Piven Connecting The Dots To Obama 
THE CLOWARD & PIVEN STRATEGY BY GLENN BECK (VIDEOS)
CLOWARD PIVEN & OBAMACARE 
Socialism, Obamacare and America 
WHO IS FRANCES FOX PIVEN?  
THE CLOWARD-PIVEN PLAN TO DESTROY GOVERNMENTS
FRANCES FOX PIVEN APPEARS ON IRANS PRESSTV