No Child Left Behind

No Child Left Behind isn't working.

"No Child Left Behind teaches to the test, and that's the measurement of student learning," said Alison Rheingold, a doctoral student studying education.

The big-government spenders have the typical solution of more spending.

In the end, it all boils down to funding.

Read the article here.

Obama Supports Bush War and Bush Secrecy

Obama is expanding the war in the Middle East. The Soviets were soundly defeated in Afghanistan. America is following in the footsteps of the Soviets.

U.S. President Barack Obama, in his first major military decision as commander-in-chief, has ordered 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan to tackle an intensifying insurgency, the White House said on Tuesday.



Obama's administration continues Bush's email cover-up.

The Obama administration, siding with former President George W. Bush, is trying to kill a lawsuit that seeks to recover what could be millions of missing White House e-mails.

Artic Ice Shrinking ( Or Expanding? )

On May 5th, the National Snow and Ice Data Center asks if the Artic ice could completely melt, then answers the question.

Arctic sea ice forecasts point to lower-than-average season ahead
Could the North Pole be ice free this melt season? Given that this region is currently covered with first-year ice, that seems quite possible.

Ten months later, they admit that Artic ice has been expanding and that they had the data the whole time. Since the data didn't fit the politically correct ideas of global warming, they simply ignored the data and relied on older an inaccurate sensors that provided the answer they were looking for.

They now blame the mistake and ten months of cover-up on bad sensors.

Satellite sensor errors cause data outage
As some of our readers have already noticed, there was a significant problem with the daily sea ice data images on February 16. The problem arose from a malfunction of the satellite sensor we use for our daily sea ice products.

Gold For Bread

In all times, in all places, gold is money.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/video/2009/feb/11/zimbabwe-gold-panning-starvation-food

Global-Warming Alarmism

Political leaders are beginning to speak about the lack of factual evidence about global warming.

On January 1st the Czech Republic claimed the seat with Václav Klaus, the Czech President, becomming the new European Council chairmen.
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Mr. Klaus remarked,

“I don’t think there is any global warming, environmentalism and global-warming alarmism are challenging our freedom.” Mr. Klaus asserted that Mr. Gore, the jet-setting global warming champion, refuses to listen to competing theories and was probably referring to a U.S. Senate report including opinions from over 650 scientists who debunked claims of scientific consensus on global warming.

State's Rights

A state bill in Montana will allow Montana to regulate commerce within the border of the state, as the Constitution allows.

http://billingsgazette.net/articles/2009/02/16/news/state/24-house.txt

...

It's about state rights."

The House voted 64-36 for the bill Saturday. If it clears a final vote, the measure will go to the Senate.

House Republicans were joined by 14 Democrats in passing the measure.

"I would hope that our U.S. Supreme Court would begin to retreat from what I think is an abusive interpretation of our interstate commerce clause," said Rep. Deborah Kottel, D-Great Falls, who supports the measure.

...

Death For Bribery

Will US based banking fraudsters at least be indicted? How much longer will the admitted fraudster Madoff be allowed to live in his penthouse instead of living in jail?


http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/china-airport-executive-sentenced-death/story.aspx?guid=%7B75598367%2D52B9%2D4AC4%2D84F4%2DA5274DB09937%7D&dist=msr_6

A Chinese court has sentenced the former chairman of a state-owned holding company overseeing 30 airports, including Beijing International, to death for bribery and embezzlement amounting to more than 100 million yuan ($14.6 million), according to a report late Tuesday by the state-run Xinhua News Agency.

Obama Supports Bush and Rove Torture Policies

Obama and the Democrats campaigned on changing the Bush policies on torture. Now that Obama and Democrats are firmly in power and can set policy, they are reversing their campaign pledges.


Under Obama, same stance on rendition suit
Bob Egelko, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/02/09/MNGS15QB5B.DTL

President Obama's Justice Department signaled in a San Francisco courtroom Monday that the change in administrations has not changed the government's position on secrecy and the rights of foreign prisoners - and that lawsuits by alleged victims of CIA kidnappings and torture must be dismissed on national security grounds.




Obama's campaign website specifically criticizes the Bush use of secrecy and state secrets.

http://www.barackobama.com/issues/ethics/
Secrecy Dominates Government Actions: The Bush administration has ignored public disclosure rules and has invoked a legal tool known as the "state secrets" privilege more than any other previous administration to get cases thrown out of civil court.


Commentary from Glenn Greenwald at http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2009/02/10/obama/index.html

Apparently, the operative word in that highlighted paragraph -- unbeknownst to most people at the time -- was "the Bush administration," since the Obama administration is now doing exactly that which, during the campaign, it defined as "The Problem," the only difference being that it is now Obama, and not Bush, doing it. For journalists who haven't bothered to learn the first thing about this issue even as they hold themselves out as experts on it, and for Obama followers eager to find an excuse to justify what was done, a brief review of the State Secrets privilege controversy is in order.

Mercury Replaced With Other Toxins

Mercury In Vaccines Was Replaced With Something Even MORE Toxic

The short, eye-opening eBook linked below is titled Aluminum in Vaccines -- a Neurological Gamble, by Neil Miller, director of the Thinktwice Global Vaccine Institute. It documents the hazards associated with aluminum-laden vaccines. Children are receiving high concentrations of aluminum in their shots. This well-documented neurotoxin may be more dangerous than mercury.

Vaccines containing high concentrations of neurotoxic aluminum were added to the child immunization schedule when several vaccines containing mercury were removed.

Read more at http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/01/27/mercury-in-vaccines-was-replaced-with-something-even-more-toxic.aspx

Jump and Soar

Wingsuit BASE Jumping.

Child Abuse

Causing a baby to suffer is child abuse. Causing a baby to die is murder.
After committing the crime of child abuse and then allowing the baby to die, the adults hid the dead baby on the roof to cover up the crime from the investigating police.


http://www.ask.com/bar?q=%2Bmiami+%2Babortion+%2Bbaby&page=1&qsrc=121&zoom=Price+of+Abortion%7CBaby+Abortion+Video%7CStatistics+Abortion&ab=2&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lifenews.com%2Fstate3800.html


...
Following Shanice Denise Osbourne's birth in July 2006, staff at the abortion facility put her body on the roof of the building to hide her death from local police.
...
Abortion facility staff told her the abortion practitioner was not available and that she would have to wait. After being taken to a waiting area, the woman allegedly gave birth to the baby that she thought had been aborted the day before.
Officials hid the baby's body when local officials investigated.
...

Lott's Toy, Lott's Anger

http://www.reason.com/blog/show/128482

The Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff's Department (that's them above) just obtained an armored personnel carrier, complete with a belt-fed, .50-cal turreted machine gun. Sheriff Leon Lott has charmingly named the vehicle "The Peacemaker," and insists that using a caliber of ammunition that even the U.S. military is reluctant to use against human targets (it's generally reserved for use against armored vehicles) will "save lives."

Can we call this overkill, yet? Is there any weapon people like Sheriff Lott would consider inappropriate for use against American citizens?





http://www.huffingtonpost.com/norm-stamper/one-cop-to-another-dont-a_b_164346.html

"If someone breaks the law in Richland County, we have an obligation as law enforcement to investigate and to bring charges." So states Sheriff Leon Lott, top cop in this South Carolina jurisdiction of 348,000 residents.
As one cop to another: No you don't, Sheriff.
...
Equally important, given the authority, how would you go about making the case? Did you or one of your deputies actually witness the offense (apart from a chance viewing of the ubiquitous photo)?
...
In other words, Sheriff Lott, you simply do not have to go after Mr. Phelps. Nor should you.
...

By, Of, and For

As expected, the bailout is taking losses from the fraudsters who are running the investment banks and pushing those losses onto the taxpayers. There was talk that there would be a profit for the taxpayers. The government is over-paying for nearly worthless "assets", and there were people who thought there would be a profit.

The government is privatizing the gains and socializing the losses. The bankers keep the bonuses from the false "profits" of the last ten years, and the taxpayers are forced to consume the losses.

Government by, of, and for the bankers.


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=a2dHh.RbAogk&refer=home
‘No Prospect for a Profit’ on Fed’s Bear Assets: Chart of Day
By David Wilson
Feb. 4 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. taxpayers may be stuck with losses on $30 billion of Bear Stearns Cos. assets owned by the Federal Reserve even though the central bank has said otherwise, according to Robert A. Eisenbeis, Cumberland Associates Inc.’s chief monetary economist.
“There is no prospect for a profit on the assets,” Eisenbeis wrote in a report yesterday. “Losses are mounting.”
...
The central bank’s Board of Governors wrote in a Dec. 29 report to Congress that it didn’t expect “any net loss to the Federal Reserve or taxpayers” from the Bear Stearns holdings.

Police Arrested, Conspirators Walk

Police killer arrested for murder. Previous comments and citizen video here.

Will the murderer's conspirators be indicted or reprimanded for their participation and involvement in a cover-up (confiscating citizen's cameras)?

Hide The Evidence

American government trying to hide evidence of their immoral actions that would typically be considered war crimes. This is a shining example of the double standard of morality.

http://rawstory.com/news/2008/UK_US_will_cut_off_shared_0204.html
The British government says that the United States threatened to withhold shared intelligence if evidence of the torture of a UK citizen at Guantanamo Bay is released

To the shock and horror of civil liberties watchdogs, the Obama administration later appeared to stealthily confirm that position.

Dumb Is Dumb

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2006-07-04-us-population_x.htm
The USA is closing in on a milestone that seemed unthinkable 25 years ago. Sometime in mid-October, we will become a nation of 300 million Americans.

Nancy Pelosi says, "Every month that we don't have an economic recovery package, five hundred million Americans lose their jobs."

SEC Indifference Allows Madoff Scam

A person risked his career and possibly his life for repeatedly providing the SEC details of Madoff's investment scam that stole billions from investors worldwide. Over eight years, the SEC failed to enforce their own rules when presented with the red flags of fraud. Madoff's fund recently collapsed.

The SEC was repeatedly warned and failed to act. The government is showing it is unable to regulate even when they are repeatedly told of a fraud. More money to a failing government is not a reasonable solution.

A potential solution is less government "regulation" (which clearly doesn't protect the people) and forcing public disclosure so the people can do their own reviews. Allowing investigation and review by interested people is the solution and can be enabled by forced transparency.

The timeline of telling the SEC about the Madoff fraud:
http://www.foxbusiness.com/story/markets/industries/government/madoff-outrage-whistleblower-testimony-rips-sec/
Markopolos provided detail evidence to the Securities and Exchange Commission from 2000 to 2008 and said there was an abject failure by the regulatory agencies, said his testimony.
...
Markopolos said he began his investigation into Madoff in late 1999 when a marketing executive from Rampart Investment Management Company Inc. told him of Bernard Madoff’s fantastic returns. Markopolos said he determined in less than four hours that Madoff’s operation was a fraud.
...
In May of 2000, Markopolos said he contacted the SEC’s Boston office with his findings. The next year, Madoff spoke with Ed Manion in that office.
...
Manion told Markopolos to send the information to the SEC’s New York Regional Office, which he said he did in late 2001. Markopolos said his report, “Madoff Investment Process Explained,” received no response.
...
The following year, Markopolos said he flew to Europe on a business trip, where he spoke with 14 French and Swiss private client banks who bragged about Madoff, his returns and their “special access to him.” Markopolos said it was there he realized Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme.
...
By October 2005, Markopolos said he finally met with the SEC’s Boston Regional Office Branch Chief, Mike Garrity. Markopolos said Garrity was “interested and fully engaged.”
...
Later that year, Markopolos said he submitted “The World’s Largest Hedge Fund is a Fraud” to the SEC, which he details and numbers 28 red flags. Markopolos said Garrity referred Markopolos to New York Branch Chief Meaghan Cheung.
...
Markopolos said he was always the one calling Cheung, and he said when he spoke to her she demonstrated a lack of interest. In an email Markopolos said he sent to Cheung in 2007, the whistleblower said, “when Madoff finally does blow up, it’s going to be spectacular, and lead to a massive selling by hedge fund, fund of funds as they face investor redemptions.”
...
Markopolos said he continued that year and the next, finally sending his updated 2005 report to the SEC in 2008.
...
“I tried calling back a few times but never got through and gave up,” said Markopolos.
By December the alleged Ponzi scheme had surfaced.

Metal Bugs

Gold bugs and silver bugs were used as lapel pins during the 1896 Presidential election cycle.


http://www.cyberbee.com/campaign/pinfobs.html
The currency standard was a major issue in the 1896 election between William McKinley and William Jennings Bryan. McKinley, a Republican, favored gold, while Bryan, a Democrat, favored free silver. Gold and silver bug pins were worn as symbols to represent a person's position on the issue.


http://projects.vassar.edu/1896/currency.html



http://www.nhlink.net/education/teaching/ms/ms32a.htm
The Republicans wanted to retain the gold standard and adopted a replica of a gold bug to demonstrate this allegiance to so called "sound money" which they believed was crucial to economic prosperity. This was countered by the Democrats and their candidate, William Jennings Bryan, who called for the free coinage of silver at a ratio of sixteen ounces of silver to one ounce of gold. hence the motto "16 to 1" and the use of the silver bug.

Winter In London

London and surrounding areas are prepared for light snow (though mostly drizzle) during the winter months. This winter the temperatures are colder and staying cold. Instead of rain and drizzle, there is heavy snow for which cities such as London are unprepared. Global warming?


http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/feb/02/snow-london-travel-chaos

As much as 20-30cm of snow is possible on the higher ground, with drifting occurring in fresh easterly winds.

Another band of heavy snow is moving across from France and could drop 10-20cm on Kent, Surrey and eastern parts.

A Met Office spokesperson, Sarah Holland, said: "Temperatures are going to barely reach freezing today because of the cold easterly winds moving in from northern Europe. There will be more snow coming through again tomorrow, though lower levels might be a bit slushy.

"The rest of the week is going to remain cold. There could still be snow on Thursday. Because we have been used to milder winters, for many this snow is a surprise."
...
All London bus services were withdrawn because of fears for passenger safety, leaving the snow-laden city streets unusually quiet. A limited bus service resumed this afternoon.

Human Toll

In Iraq the human toll in lives and suffering is being paid for what purpose?


http://www.alternet.org/story/123818/

The overall figures are stunning: 4.5 million displaced, 1-2 million widows, 5 million orphans, about 1 million dead -- in one way or another, affecting nearly one in two Iraqis.
By any sensible measure, it would be difficult to describe this as a victory of any kind.

Cheap Labor

US companies have been bringing in workers on visas at cheaper rates than citizen workers. This is a legalized way to suppress market pay rates, and has been widely used by technology companies.

Technology companies such as IBM and Microsoft are now firing workers, though the visa workers aren't necessarily the first to be let go.


http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126805
Microsoft Corp. said it is cutting a "significant number" of foreign workers as part of the layoff of 1,400 employees last week, a number that is due to reach 5,000 over the next 18 months.
The company isn't detailing how many of the workers losing their jobs are in the U.S. on a visa, however.
...
But there is nothing in the law that requires a company to cut the jobs of H-1B workers before U.S. workers, said experts. David Kussin, an immigration attorney at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, said, "In fact, the law is very well designed to say that you have to treat H-1Bs the same as U.S. citizens in all regards."


http://www.usatoday.com/money/topstories/2009-02-01-1127659341_x.htm
Major U.S. banks sought government permission to bring thousands of foreign workers into the country for high-paying jobs even as the system was melting down last year and Americans were getting laid off, according to an Associated Press review of visa applications.
...
The dozen banks now receiving the biggest rescue packages, totaling more than $150 billion, requested visas for more than 21,800 foreign workers over the past six years for positions that included senior vice presidents, corporate lawyers, junior investment analysts and human resources specialists. The average annual salary for those jobs was $90,721, nearly twice the median income for all American households.
...
As the economic collapse worsened last year -- with huge numbers of bank employees laid off -- the numbers of visas sought by the dozen banks in AP's analysis increased by nearly one-third, from 3,258 in the 2007 budget year to 4,163 in fiscal 2008.
...
Foreigners are attractive hires because companies have found ways to pay them less than American workers.
...
Companies are required to pay foreign workers a prevailing wage based on the job's description. But they can use the lower end of government wage scales even for highly skilled workers; hire younger foreigners with lower salary demands; and hire foreigners with higher levels of education or advanced degrees for jobs for which similarly educated American workers would be considered overqualified.
...
"The system provides you perfectly legal mechanisms to underpay the workers," said John Miano of Summit, N.J., a lawyer who has analyzed the wage data and started the Programmers Guild, an advocacy group that opposes the H-1B system.
...
Beyond seeking approval for visas from the government, banks that accepted federal bailout money also enlisted uncounted foreign workers, often in technology jobs, through intermediary companies known as "body shops." Such businesses are the top recipients of the H-1B visas.

IBM Chief Knighted, Fires Thousands Of Employees

While receiving knighthood from England

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/09/07/BU225709.DTL
IBM chief executive Louis Gerstner was awarded an honorary knighthood at the British Embassy in Washington, D.C., last night for his role in expanding business opportunities over the Internet, the company said.

Louis Gerstner quietly lays off thousands of employees.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10149661-92.html
IBM has been quietly laying off workers in its North American offices since Wednesday, according to numerous reports online. ... So far, more than 2,800 employees have been laid off from IBM's software, and sales and distribution divisions, according to Alliance@IBM, a Communications Workers of America affiliate attempting to organize IBM workers into a union.

http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9126878&intsrc=hm_list
IBM's not-so-secret layoffs may have reached 4,200 today ...