Games People Play–Obama’s The #1 Game Player

Obama Social Security Chess Game SC Games People play  Obamas the #1 Game Player

Life is all a game to Obama. Like playing chess. The game is politics–above all else–at any cost.

Too often, he checkmates his opponents–the Republican leaders. He appears to have about all the cards–so far. But how much longer before his “House of Cards” falls? There are already cracks in his armor, just into his second term–the ones where he could ace out all the Republicans and be in complete control again as he was in the first two years of his first term. He bet on the Republicans folding over the sequestration, but they did not.

He bet that Benghazi’s mistakes would take little notice, as the Republicans would not pursue that, especially after he reportedly “stole” the 2012 election (by only 2.8%–large margin).

He bet they wouldn’t pursue the IRS scandal and the Dept. of Justice AP scandal. After all, he knew nothing about any of these scandals.  But now the liberal reporters are bristling. They are even asking questions (finally) about Benghazi, as it appears it will not go away. He loses the liberal media on his side, and he loses all.

He has bet that winding the war down in Afghanistan and bringing all the troops home at once in 2014 will ignite his base and be a part of his legacy–that he won the war (but with no forethought of how they will get jobs or even medical care, let alone the mess this leaves Afghanistan in.)

He’s bet  that the economy will turn around to make him look good, if they just tax the rich some more–yet we are facing even higher oil prices and possibly high inflation (and still high unemployment.)

He’s bet on amnesty for illegal aliens–11 million of them, and more and more will come then–buying votes in his bid to remake America (so he will have millions more indebted to him and to the liberals.)  He’s stopped deporting aliens and stopped the border fence.  However, Sen. Marco Rubio is working on a path to citizenship for these illegals.  Maybe someday, Hispanics and other illegals will realize that it is not the land of the free and that the Republicans represent their family values (and the liberals don’t really care for them, just for their votes.)

He’s bet that the liberal media will continue to cover up his scandals, his birthplace, and past. But the ‘chickens may come home to roost’ as the media are catching on now and may turn on him so that he could end up his second term either early–after impeachment– or be booted out at the end of his failed Presidency, going down as one of the worst and least experienced Presidents who tried to bring down America (the greatest nation there ever has been.)

All bets are off, Obama! We’ve come back from worse than what we’ve been experiencing today. It’s karma, and right will prevail!

The American Eagle will soar again!

Photo credit: terrellaftermath

Latest “High CO2″ Announcement A Misleading Lie

Pelosi Gore Global Warming Saucer SC Latest High CO2 Announcement A Misleading Lie

Recently, scientists at the CO2 monitoring station at Mona Loa Observatory in Hawaii announced that CO2 levels in the earth’s atmosphere have reached 400 parts per million. Pieter Tans of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration estimates that CO2 levels haven’t been this high in 2 million years.

On the surface, it seems we should all be concerned with this high level reading of CO2 in the atmosphere and rush to do whatever we can to bring the level down, based on their assumption that CO2 is the main greenhouse gas responsible for causing global warming/climate change.

However, nothing could be further from the truth, both from the aspect of the high reading of CO2 as well as the assumption that CO2 is the main gas that causes a greenhouse effect in our atmosphere.

As with all other fantastic claims made by the global warming/climate change crowd, the latest claim of CO2 levels being the highest ever recorded in modern times simply falls apart when actual facts are examined.

First of all, the high level reading of 400 PPM is incorrect in the sense that it’s supposed to represent the levels in the entire atmosphere of the earth. This is because of the location of the CO2 monitoring station itself, being at Mona Loa Observatory. The observatory itself sits essentially on the rim of Mona Loi Volcano, which is an active volcano that erupted in the spring of 1984 and is currently considered active. The main gases released by volcanoes are H2O and CO2. These and other gases are constantly being released, both from the actual crater and from fissures near the crater every day. So what we have here are scientists at Mona Loa Observatory recording drastic rises of atmospheric CO2 but failing to admit why this is. Of course, anyone will record high levels of CO2 when they are looking for it near an active volcano. Thus, the high level reading of CO2 is a false reading.

Interestingly, most CO2 monitoring stations around the world are located on or very near areas that naturally produce CO2 such as volcanoes and fault lines, and near coastal areas where sea mounts are located. So, actual CO2 readings from any of these monitoring stations cannot be trusted as accurate.

Secondly, most scientists at these stations are not climate scientists at all but are highly educated environmentalists, masquerading as climate scientists. This is true of Pieter Tans of NOAA, who isn’t educated in any aspect of meteorology at all, only holding a PhD in experimental physics and a degree in theoretical physics. Since he has no education in any aspect of weather, climate, or overall atmospheric physics, he isn’t qualified to present himself as a climate scientist.

CO2 simply isn’t a greenhouse gas. Most geologists, “except those standing to gain financially and in standing from promoting GW/CC,” will agree that the driving force behind a greenhouse effect is water vapor above all else. Ice cores show an increase in CO2 levels only after a warming period, not before. Thus, increased levels of CO2 are a result of warming periods, not the other way around.

We can use the planet Mars as an example of the fact that CO2 is not a greenhouse gas since scientists estimate the atmosphere of the planet to be nearly 100% CO2. During the summer months in a given area of the planet, the temperature will reach into the 80-degree range. However, after sunset, the temperature will rapidly drop into the single digits. Even given the distance from the sun and its rotation, Mars should be experiencing a runaway greenhouse effect with temperatures well above 100 degrees during the day and not dipping below 90 degrees at night, with hardly any cooling taking place during winter season. Yet, this is not happening. Why? Because CO2 isn’t a greenhouse gas, nearly as much as water vapor.

Here on Earth, this can be seen in comparing desert temperature variations between day and night with those of very humid areas such as Florida. In arid desert areas, the temperature can reach well over 100 degrees during the day; but the overnight low can dip into the 60′s.

In places such as Miami, the daytime high can be 95 degrees; but the overnight low will seldom dip below 80 degrees. This variance in heat loss between these examples is due to humidity. Desert areas usually have humidity levels into the teens while areas such as Florida and the Deep South have humidity levels constantly over 60%. So, if science was serious about the Greenhouse effect on Earth, they would purposely blow oil rigs in most ocean areas to prevent evaporation rather than try and regulate a harmless gas like CO2. The bottom line here is that it isn’t about CO2 being a greenhouse gas at all, as much as it is about getting to regulate it by legislation for the purpose of financial and political gain.

Since global warming cannot be proven in any form of concrete evidence (and only exists in false data and computer manipulated models), it therefore doesn’t exist in the real world–only in the imaginations of those promoting it and in the feeble minds of those who blindly believe it.

We are at the stage where we must demand that those responsible for spreading this false information, for the purpose of scaring people into accepting their sinister plot, be prosecuted to the fullest extent.

Charges of fraud and racketeering first come to mind, aside from the financial scheme associated with GW/CC such as the Wind Energy industry, which simply supplies us with nothing while using more grid electricity than they ever produce, and very expensive solar power that would basically take a lifetime to get back what one initially invests for it.

These and others are snake oil schemes that cost us much more than we can afford. In this recession that is teetering on full blown Depression, we cannot have prices inflated to ridiculous levels on just about everything imaginable for the sake of a blatant lie.

The US is the only country in the world that goes along with destroying their own economy, based on lies and estimates of a dream. China, India, and most other industrial countries will not sacrifice their economy for anything, much less unproven fairy tales. Under the guise of saving the world from a conjured enemy in the form of GW/CC, the US is accepting outrageous unemployment rates, ridiculous inflation, and a previously unacceptable economic depression.

America was a great nation, shining above all others in the world until a few years ago. Now…we are a sorry bunch of individuals sacrificing the one thing that set us above the rest: our industry. Today, we are willing to become a third-world country while we allow the rest of the world’s industrial countries to prosper.

In Defense Of The Entitlement Mentality

depressed 300x300 In Defense of the Entitlement Mentality

What’s wrong with kids these days? Today’s youth are so demanding. They think they’re owed something. They have this insufferable, all-permeating sense of entitlement that sours the very air in their proximity. Why don’t those little ingrates just learn to respect their elders and be thankful for everything they have?

Or so the conventional narrative goes. But I don’t buy it anymore. The young people are right this time. I’m here to defend the entitlement mentality of today’s youth.

The young people of the modern age do have some things to be grateful for. For most of the world, we live in an era of unprecedented safety, high life expectancy, and technological wonder. Never before has it been so easy to be fed, healthy, and able to access the entirety of human knowledge and achievement from virtually anywhere. All that, however, is only the silver lining on the looming stormcloud. All the high living by previous generations was done on credit. That’s debt that will have to be paid down the road. By today’s young people. And it’s happening already.

First and foremost, unemployment. While global unemployment is through the roof across the board, the youth have been hit especially hard, with countries such as Greece reporting rates of over 60% without jobs. Government regulations on business and barriers to entry into the marketplace, voted on by the older generations, have effectively handicapped the youth’s ability to secure gainful employment. This comes at a time when young people are pursuing higher and higher educational achievements in hopes of getting a job. Unfortunately, this strategy just isn’t working as expected, causing the youth to spend years of hard work and accruing a lifetime’s worth of debt for no better future prospects.

And about that debt. We’re talking about in excess of $16 trillion in the U.S., which amounts to about $52,000 for every man, woman, and child. Add that number to existing school debt, which in many cases is upwards of six figures, and we’re looking at a lifetime of debt to pay off. Decades of financial slavery that can’t even begin without first finding a job. If that isn’t a stolen future, I don’t know what is.

Finally, the cherry on top of the bleak-future sundae with extra nuts: currency. The last century of central banking has seen rise to the most wicked and insidious tax of all, that of simply printing more money to cover higher spending, devaluing the people’s hard-earned savings in the process. This approach crushes any hope of saving up for the future if all store of value rapidly bleeds said value. Push the devaluation trend enough, and eventually people will lose confidence in government paper currency altogether, causing money as we know it to become worthless.

So, after all’s said and done, a young person today faces grim prospects of securing a job. A job that would pay wages in severely devalued money. Money that would go towards paying off a debt that the debtor had no choice in accruing. All because the older generations hampered business with senseless regulations. Established onerous taxes to pay for an ever-growing state. Spent untold fortunes on wealth redistribution programs, unnecessary wars, and every kind of waste imaginable. Robbed all savings of its value in order to pay for the here and now.

What’s wrong with kids these days? They have no future. They have no hope. They have been stripped of all opportunity to shape their own destinies, to build a better tomorrow, to live free from indentured servitude. Are young people entitled? You bet they are. They’re entitled to a fighting chance. They’re entitled to a blank slate. They’re entitled to be able to live and die by their own decisions and convictions, not waste their precious short lives as slaves of the older generations. Generations who had their chance, still possessed their liberty, and made their decision to build an empire out of the broken dreams and stolen freedom of those not yet born.

What’s wrong with kids these days? The sins of the father are being visited upon the son. And the son has had enough.

Joel Valenzuela is the editor of The Desert Lynx

Obama’s In Texas To Talk Jobs? He Should Try Listening

Steve Stockman official portrait Obama’s in Texas to talk jobs? He should try listening

 

In February, I invited Barack Obama to come to Texas to learn to create jobs.

Four months later, and under intense pressure to make it look like he cares about the unemployed, he’s coming to Austin for “an event on the economy.”

Instead of talking, he should come and listen.

He inherited an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent.  After four years and a Congress that gave him everything he demanded in a $1.2 trillion “stimulus” bill, the only thing that grew was human suffering.

Under Obama, the percentage of the adult population with a job or looking for one has dropped to record levels.  The “civilian labor force participation rate” is at an abysmally low 63.3 percent, the lowest since 1979 and Jimmy Carter.

Additionally, 9.5 million working-age Americans have given up on finding a job under Obama. Combined, they would make the nation’s 11th largest state.

Job creation is nearly dead under Obama and nowhere near what we need to recover.  Americans are giving up looking for work under Obama in numbers unseen since Carter.  Black and Hispanic unemployment have grown to epidemic levels under this president.

The widespread suffering makes Obama’s decision to disband his Jobs Council earlier this year even more insulting.  Obama wants us to accept unemployment and poverty as the new normal.  Under Obama, our only reliable export is failure.

People are suffering because of Obama sinking deeper into his personal agenda of high taxes and attacks on job creators rather than creating a rising tide of prosperity.

Obama’s stubborn policy of raising taxes on job creators and issuing wasteful regulations means the private sector isn’t growing fast enough to restore our economy.  We can’t afford four more years of Obama’s failed liberalism.  He needs to turn off his teleprompter that’s already pre-programmed with the same old failed agenda of tax hikes and more giveaways to his political donors.

If Obama wants to learn how to create jobs, he should stop talking and instead listen to Texans.

Texas also inherited an economy from George W. Bush. Unlike Obama’s economy, ours is booming.  Spending cuts, small government, and light regulations are the fuel that has the Texas economy roaring.

Texas did it by cutting taxes, while Obama grounded America’s economy to a halt by raising taxes.

Texas fueled jobs by expanding our oil and gas industry, while Obama has siphoned off jobs by slashing oil and gas production on federal lands and aggressively attacking private development with regulations.

Liberals love to blame slower growth in government spending for low job numbers, but Texas cut spending by $11 billion and job growth exploded.  Government spending is a barrier to prosperity.

While Obama is burying the United States in massive deficits, Texas is sitting atop an $8 billion budget surplus.  Not only is a Texas not running a deficit; unlike Obama’s government, we can pay off our debts.

Texas has a healthy, booming economy because we saw what Obama was doing and did the opposite.  While Obama is giving up on job creation, Texas is busy trying to fill jobs.

If Obama really cares about the millions suffering under his economy, he’ll drop the canned speech filled with the same failed liberalism.  Obama needs to adopt the Texas model of low taxes, smart regulations, and a booming oil and gas industry.

“Texas has yet to learn submission to any oppression, come from what source it may.”– General Sam Houston, First President of the Republic of Texas

 

 

Donny Ferguson

Senior Communications Adviser

U.S. Representative Steve Stockman (TX-36)

202-225-1555

There Is No Truth In America Today

Obama Lies SC There Is No Truth In America Today

Faced with the onslaught of misinformation coming from every angle imaginable, I’ve come to the following conclusion: there is no truth in America today. America is a nation of liars. That is the unfortunate truth. It does not matter where the lies are coming from. Lies are lies. The art of lying has become second nature in politics today and is supported by the national media. The leaders of our nation have become experts at looking directly into the lens of the camera and unleashing an endless stream of misinformation to bolster their personal agendas. It does not matter if it’s a bald-faced lie; the only thing that matters is that they know they can get away with it. This is why there is no truth in America today. Americans are sick of the lies and deception. Enough is enough.

Not a day goes by where we are not being mislead. And it doesn’t matter what the topic of discussion is. It could be the economy. It could be job growth. It could be a variety of different topics such as immigration, gun control, same sex marriage, the sequester, etc. It could even be a tragic event in a far away country where lives were lost and nobody in our government had the decency to intervene. Rather than accept responsibility for their poor judgment, they chose instead to lie about what really happened. In a despicable act of cowardice, they chose to fabricate the details of what had transpired in an attempt to hide the truth. In short, they lied to all of us. This is unacceptable.

Or is it? I am offended to state that not only is this acceptable; it is normal in today’s political circles. It gets even worse. There was a time when honor and integrity meant something. Not anymore. Now one can sit confidently and lie before a congressional investigation, yet still be considered the front-runner for your party’s nomination for the highest office in the land. It’s true. Lying doesn’t matter anymore. Instead, what matters today is mastering the art of manipulating the electorate, regardless of how this is accomplished. The compulsive liar knows it isn’t difficult to manipulate someone who is unwilling to seek the truth. This is why they can get away with doing what they do best. If no one is calling foul, there is no accountability.

There was a time when lying was frowned upon with utter disdain. Those caught in a lie lost all credibility. Now it’s like a parlor game. If you’re caught lying, you are not immediately cast aside for not being trustworthy. In a complete reversal, you are now judged by your ability to tell a lie and get away with it. Ironically, the lie isn’t the topic of discussion anymore; that is considered a normal part of being a politician. The fact is that politicians lie every single day. This is expected. The nature of the lie and whether or not it will have a lingering impact, positive or negative, is all that matters now. Telling the lie isn’t important. If you can tell a lie and withstand the potential short-term backlash in order to accomplish your long term goal, then it’s a lie worth telling.

No one knows this better than the current occupant of the oval office. Through a litany of lies and deception, he convinced a low-information electorate to re-elect him to a second term in office. There is no question his opponent had the better qualifications, but it didn’t matter in the end. What mattered most were the systematic attacks on the character of the losing candidate, whether they were true or not. The old adage “if you tell a lie enough times, then it becomes the truth” was in full view for all to see. Even when caught in an obvious lie, the incumbent steadfastly continued to repeat the lie over and over again, in complete disregard of the truth. It didn’t matter what the truth was, so long as enough people believed it was true.

There is no truth in America today. This pattern of deceit has even begun to trickle down. People are beginning to lie about everything. They lie on their unemployment applications. They lie on their disability applications. They lie on their food stamps application. It’s now the norm rather than the exception for many. When someone lies indiscriminately, it is no longer an issue of integrity; there is no integrity. All that’s left is an entitlement mentality where one is dependent on the government for their basic needs. This is not the America forged by our Founding Fathers. This is a different one, an America faced with an uncertain future. Welcome to today’s harsh reality.

Photo credit: SS&SS (Creative Commons)

Open Letter To German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel SC Open Letter to German Chancellor Angela Merkel

Dear Madame Chancellor:

We strongly recommend that Germany reject the entrance of Croatia to the EU. However, if Germany determines it is willing to take on the financial and political risks of admitting Croatia into the EU, then we urge you to require conditions. Absent these conditions, it would be a mistake to admit Croatia into the EU and provide over €11 billion (2014-2020) in EU and German taxpayer funds to the country.  The recommended conditions are as follows:
1. Croatia agrees to accept foreign visiting judges and prosecutors from strong rule of law nations to be empowered with official duties. There are precedents for this in the Balkan region and in Commonwealth nations.
2. With the above assistance, the government of Croatia recovers illicit financial outflows of over €11.4 billion in crime, corruption and tax evasion (during 2001-2010) and confiscates the wealth illicitly amassed by Croatia’s politicians, government officials, and their private partners in crime and pays it back into Croatia’s treasury.
With a politically influenced judiciary, Croatia cannot effectively deal with rampant corruption. Foreign judges and prosecutors will be able to address the illicit outflows and illicit enrichment, and assist in establishing an independent judiciary with a proper foundation of the rule of law. Croatia’s corrupt politicians and their private partners in crime should be prosecuted; their assets in Europe and beyond should be frozen; and they should be barred from all EU offices and European parliamentary seats.
BackgroundThe EU is closing its eyes to organized crime and massive corruption in Croatia. By prematurely accepting Croatia as its 28th member, the EU would not only fail Croatia’s citizens, but also expose EU taxpayers to costly bailouts. In the meantime, an unreformed Croatian government is unlikely to use EU structural funds as intended.

Dr. Daniel Kaufmann’s study, completed at the Washington, DC-based Brookings Institution, with excerpts published in The Wall Street Journal, found that Greece’s crisis was due to rampant corruption and opaque public finances. Croatia is on the path to becoming the next Greece.

For the past two decades, Croatia’s two major political groupings have rotated power while politicians enriched themselves. While engaging in rampant corruption, politicians have blocked judicial reforms, interfered with the judiciary, failed to strengthen the rule of law, encouraged a dysfunctional economy, held fraudulent elections, and brought the government debt down to junk status. Under these circumstances, investors with honest intentions avoid the country.
Investors have no legal certainty and lack the fundamental protection of property rights. According to the 2013 Index of Economic Freedom for Croatia, published by the Heritage Foundation and The Wall Street Journal, “Judicial corruption continues to undermine the rule of law. The court system is cumbersome and inefficient, and backlogs cause business disputes to drag on for years.”
  
Twelve Reasons for Concern

1.  $15.2 Billion in Illicit Financial Outflows (2001-2010) Via Crime, Corruption, Tax Evasion and Illicit  Enrichment Since 1991

Based on the research by Washington, DC-based Global Financial Integrity, Croatia experienced an illicit outflow of $15.2 billion (€11.4b) during 2001-2010 via crime, corruption and tax evasion. Croatia’s government has not yet answered the questions of theOpen Letter of February 21, 2013 co-signed by members of the European Parliament Monica Macovei—Romania’s former justice minister—and Roger Helmer (UK) and Adriatic Institute’s leadership.
Moises Naim, a scholar at the Washington, DC-based Carnegie Endowment for International peace and the author of “Mafia States,” explains: “In mafia states, government officials enrich themselves and their families and friends while exploiting the money, muscle, political influence, and global connections of criminal syndicates to cement and expand their own power.” Croatia fits the description.

2.  Corruption and Money Laundering Related to Hypo Alpe Adria Group (HAAG)

While German taxpayers were bailing out Bayerische LB with €3.75 billion connected to the “losses” of the Hypo Bank in the Balkans, the accounts of corrupt Croatian politicians and criminals remained safe, protected by Liechtenstein’s banking secrecy and its new owner Prince Michael von Liechtenstein. Prior to Bayerische Landesbank’s purchase of the HAAG shell in 2007, Hypo Consultants Group, a lucrative real estate arm of the HAAG owning a portfolio of real estate in Croatia and Serbia, allegedlyestimated at €1.6 billion, was divested. The HAAG branch in Liechtenstein was excluded from the purchase. Germany’s Honorary Consul to Croatia, RobertJezic, who allegedly received HAAG’s loans, was also a lobbyist for HAAG in Croatia.

Over the last 22 years, illicit gains from bribes, phony privatization schemes, illegal trade, and arms and oil smuggling left Croatia and allegedly landed in secret HAAG bank accounts in Austria and Liechtenstein. Part of that money was laundered back to Croatia, and invested in the real estate. The only individual held responsible was Mr. Sanader, Croatia’s former prime minister, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for the multiple bribery cases. One of the cases involved Austria’s HAAG. Mr. Sanader is currently appealing the court’s decision.
 
3.  Extradition of Ex-General Vladimir Zagorec, and Public Assassinations in Zagreb
Vladimir Zagorec, Croatia’s former defense assistant minister and ex-general indicted for embezzling diamonds worth $5 million during the Balkan wars of the 1990s, was extradited from Austria to Croatia on October 2, 2008. According to published media reports, during the war in Croatia, Mr. Zagorec transferred about $450 million to secret accounts in HAAG, which he used as a deposit for his construction projects. Jorg Haider, an Austrian politician who spearheaded Hypo’s foray in the Balkans, and whose wealth of EUR45 million was found in Liechtenstein foundations, was killed in a car accident on October 11, 2008.Prior to his extradition from Austria, Mr. Zagorec allegedly announced that he would reveal 77 secret accounts belonging to politicians in Austria and Liechtenstein. On October 6, 2008, Ivana Hodak, the 26-year-old daughter of a lawyer defending Mr. Zagorec, was executed in front of her apartment, shot twice in the head. On October 23, 2008, a bomb explosion in Croatia’s capital killed Ivo Pukanic, a publisher of an independent weekly Nacional, and another company executive, Niko Franjic. Mr. Pukanic was one of the key witnesses against Zagorec.

Vladimir Zagorec was sentenced to seven years in prison in Croatia. He has not yet publicly revealed the names of politicians withsecret foreign accounts in Liechtenstein and Austria.4.  Ministry of Interior’s Obstruction of Investigations

Tomislav Karamarko, a former intelligence head (currently party leader of HDZ political party, which is under investigation for corruption and for siphoning around €9.5m for HDZ party slush funds used by senior party officials) was hand-picked by Mr. Sanader to immediately replace the Minister of Interior after the assassinations of Ms. Hodak, Mr. Pukanic, and Mr. Franjic.  The only result of the investigations under Mr. Karamarko’s authority was that a homeless person was jailed for allegedly killing the lawyer’s daughter. Tomislav Karamarko eventually appointed his people to police departments.
Croatia’s current Minister of Interior, Ranko Ostojic, has an apparent conflict of interest, having worked for, and resided in a Zagreb apartment owned by, Nino Pavic, a media tycoon. Mr. Pavic is the  owner and founder of EPH, with 50% of the print media market share. As reported by Washington, DC-based Freedom House, Mr. Pavic has not yet been charged in the HGAA corruption scandal, which was allegedly discarded by Croatia’s main prosecutor, Mladen BajicMr. Pavic also has been mentioned as one of the alleged owners of Hypo Consultants Group.  German Westdeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung (WAZ) is a 50% owner of EPH in Croatia.

5.  Persecution of  Journalists and Independent Voices
Just two weeks ago, the Croatian state-run broadcaster’s HRT executive editor Denis Latin and his colleagues were removed from their positions. OSCE expressed concern about the treatment of journalists “following criticism from the country’s Prime Minister Milanovic” and it called “the government and the HRT management to refrain any action that could lead to censorship and threaten editorial independence.”  OSCE also stated, “This action can undermine media freedom in the country…”  According to media reports, HRT’s director, Goran Radman serves on the supervisory board of Hypo Alpe Adria Bank in Croatia and is tied to alleged conflict of interest cases.
TomislavKaramarko, former head of Croatia’s intelligence and minister of interior, and currently HDZ party leader, was called out by journalists and anti-corruption activists for harassment.
Under the title, “Judicial Harassment of Zeljko Peratovic Must Stop,” Reporters Without Borders released this statement, “As he already tried to do last year, [Tomislav] Karamarko probably hopes to be able to convince the court to ban Peratovic from publishing information for an indefinite period, thereby preventing him from working as a journalist, whether writing for his blog or for other media.”
Police protection was denied to media publisher Ivo Pukanic, who was assassinated in a car bomb explosion in October 2008. Those who ordered Mr. Pukanic’s murder have not been found. The assassination attempts on Dusan Miljus, a journalist who has been covering corruption and its ties to organized crime, and Igor Rađenović, director of Zagreb Roads who allegedly unearthed corruption in a company owned by the city of Zagreb, have never been resolved. Journalists on the state-run television HTV have been exposed to constant harassment.

6.  Involvement In the The Balkan Route
Croatia lies on the “Balkan Route,” which originates in Afghanistan/Pakistan via Iran and is used by criminals and terrorist networks to smuggle heroin, weapons, and young women and children into Europe. In the arrest of several Balkan criminals in Spain in February 2012, all possessed official Croatian passports. Further investigations led directly to Croatia’s Ministry of Interior and a record of illegal sale of passports since 2006. This corruption has emboldened Balkan criminals to run an international criminal enterprise and the Balkan Cocaine Ring with direct access to the EU. No high-level official was held responsible in Croatia.
The Balkan Route’s heroin trade is estimated at $20 billion annual market value. The Western Balkans, which includes Croatia, is included in Europol’s organized crime threat assessment.
 
7.  Fraudulent Elections and Other Political Abuses:  One Million Illegal Voters for a Nation of Four Million
In spite of the reports on Croatia’s electoral fraud by Brussels-based The Parliament, a Written Question to the European Commission by Daniel Hannan, member of the European Parliament from UK, and in BBC’s live interview with Stefano Sannino, the European Commission’s director general for enlargement, in December 2011, the EU failed to include Croatia’s democratic deficiency in its monitoring reports. Croatia’s current Minister of Administration, Arsen Bauk, finally admitted in May 2012 that in his country of just 4.2 million people, “over 1 million surplus voters” were on the electoral list in 2011 December’s parliamentary elections.  These illegal votes had a potential to determine more than 70 seats in Croatia’s 151-seat parliamentary assembly.
Croatia’s 2011 parliamentary elections and the January 2012 EU referendum were decided on the basis of more than one million illegal votes. The upcoming elections for the European Parliament and Croatia’s local elections in May of 2013 will be decided through the same fraudulent electoral list.
Sasha Radović (72), retired colonel and anti-corruption activist, was arrested on November 17, 2011, the very day he announced his candidacy in the December 2011 elections. In his many books, Mr. Radovic had exposed political corruption and unexplained wealth of top state leaders, including cabinet ministers and a military general. Extortion charges against Mr. Radović were brought by Ivan Cermak, an ex-general and alleged war-profiteer whose wealth has been investigated by journalists and anti-corruption activists but ignored by Croatia’s authorities. Mr. Radovic is currently appealing the decision of two years of jail time through Croatia’s court system.
Croatia’s current foreign minister, Vesna Pusic, and the Croatian People’s Party (HNS) she heads, forged a coalition with HDSSB political party of Branimir Glavasconvicted of war crimes and serving jail time in Bosnia. Croatia’s electoral commission, presided by the president of Supreme Court Branko Hrvatin, approved Mr. Glavas’ leading the HDSSB list in the 2011 parliamentary elections despite his serving the sentence. Three members of HDSSB were reported for murder threats and a physical attack on a journalist. According to published reports, Mr. Glavas is alleged to have threatened a judge and journalists.

8. State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic’s Blocking of Corruption  Investigations
The current Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovic, investigative journalists, and whistleblowers have accused Croatia’s Chief State Prosecutor Mladen Bajic of blocking corruption investigations. The EU’s Comprehensive Monitoring Report on Croatia, released on October 10, 2012, urged that “further attention should be paid to the system for checking on dismissals of criminal cases by the prosecutor. The current system does not provide for independent checks on decisions by State prosecutors to dismiss reports of crime.”
9. Conflicts of Interest and Abuse of Office
The media have reported conflicts of interest and the abuse of public office. However, those allegedly involved generally have not been prosecuted. Allegations have been made against Croatia’s current Prime Minister Zoran MilanovicPresident Ivo Josipovic; deputy prime minister and minister of foreign and European affairsVesnaPusicfinance ministerSlavko Linic; former tourism minister of the current government Veljko Ostojic; former interior minister Tomislav  Karamarko; former finance minister Ivan Suker; former economy and defense minister BrankoVukelic; former transportation minister BozidarKalmeta; former minister of public works, construction and reconstruction Marina Matulović Dropulicformer minister of foreign affairs Miomir Zuzul; former speaker of the house and currently president of the anti-corruption parliamentary committee Vladimir Seks (who has not yet been charged for alleged war crimes); former minister of public works, construction and reconstruction RadimirCacicformer Prime Minister Jadranka Kosorformer minister of foreign affairs Mate Granic; Istria county prefect and IDS president IvanJakovcic; former foreign minister KolindaGrabar-Kitarovic; chairman of the state-owned oil company, Petrokemija, JosipJagust; and a host of other politicians in Croatia.
The EU’s comprehensive monitoring report from October 10, 2012 stated, “Croatia has not fully implemented the conflict of interest legislation and has overturned the previous provisions on the criteria for membership of supervisory and management boards of public companies.” Vesna Pusic’s attempt to appoint HNS party secretary-general Srecko Ferencak to the supervisory board of a state-run oil pipeline operator, after he was sentenced for embezzlement, would be considered highly problematic in rule of law nations.In sharp contrast to the record in Croatia, Monica Macovei, former Minister of Justice, Romania and member of the European Parliament stated through the EU’s post-accession monitoring mechanism, “1,000 [Romanian] public officials ended up behind bars for corruption.” Based on evidence, Ms. Macovei recently advocated for “the establishment in Croatia of a post-accession mechanism to evaluate the track record of conflict of interest, corruption and organized crime cases as well as the implementation of the judiciary reform action plan.”

10. Abuse of Private Property Rights 

Individual property rights are trampled on, and, according to the US State Department, the adjudication process in expropriation cases is an area of potential concern for investors. Croatia’s legislature ensured inherent conflicts of interest in the legislative framework for the restitution and compensation of the property confiscated during communism. According to the EU report from 2010, “This strategic move by the Croatian Government and legislature places the rule of law and the rights of people entitled to restitution or compensation in jeopardy.”
11.  Arms Sale to Syrian Groups, in Violation of EU’s Embargo
Croatia was recently reported to be selling arms to Syria. The unanswered questions remain: Where did these arms come from, how were they originally purchased, to whom were they sold, who is getting the proceeds from the sales, and why has the EU not reacted in light of the EU’s embargo?
12.  Depressed Economy
As a consequence of corruption and poor policies, including high taxes, Croatia’s government budget has been drained; business and consumer confidence has been lacking; the economy has been in recession since 2009; unemployment has been growing for years and is now at 22%; youth unemployment has been around 45% since October 2012; public debt and budget deficits are unsustainable; people are suffering from poverty; and people are leaving the country.
………
We look forward to your positive response and leadership in blocking Croatia’s EU accession or requiring the conditions described above.

Sincerely,

Natasha Srdoc
Co-Founder and Chairman, Adriatic Institute for Public Policy
Co-Founder and Co-Chair, International Leaders Summit
Honorable Maurice McTigue, QSO
Co-Chair, Executive Advisory Board, Adriatic Institute for Public Policy
Advisor to US Members of Congress, US Administrations, US State Governors
New Zealand’s Former Cabinet Member, Member of Parliament and Ambassador
Joel Anand Samy
Co-Founder and Trustee, Adriatic Institute for Public Policy
Co-Founder and Co-Chair, International Leaders Summit
Boris Divjak
Senior Fellow, Adriatic Institute for Public Policy
Founder and Board Member, Transparency International, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Cc:
Norbert Lammert, The President of the German Bundestag
Mark Rutte, Prime Minister, The Netherlands
Elio Di Rupo, Prime Minister, Belgium
Helle Thorning-Schmidt, Prime Minister, Denmark
Frederik Reinfedlt, Prime Minister, Sweden
Jyrki Katainen, Prime Minister, Finland
David Cameron, Prime Minister, United Kingdom
François Hollande, President, France
Jean-Marc Ayrault, Prime Minister, France
John Kerry, US Secretary of State
Chuck Hagel, US Secretary of Defense
Eric H. Holder, Jr., US Attorney General
Janet A. Napolitano, US Secretary of Homeland Security
Carl Levin, US Senator
John McCain, US Senator
Jeff Sessions, US Senator
Tom Coburn, US Senator
Bob Corker, US Senator
Ben Cardin, US Senator
Jeanne Shaheen, US Senator
Kelly Ayotte, US Senator
Mark Begich, US Senator
Susan Collins, US Senator
Jeff Flake, US Senator
Tim Kane, US Senator
Tedd Cruz, US Senator
Marco Rubio, US Senator
John Boehner, Speaker of the US House of Representatives
Ed Royce, US Congressman
Eliot L. Engel, US Congressman
Christopher H. Smith, US Congressman
Adam Smith, US Congressman
Howard P. McKeon, US Congressman
Frank Wolf, US Congressman
Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, US Congresswoman
Joe Wilson, US Congressman
Martin Schulz, President of the European Parliament
Monica Macovei, Member of the European Parliament, Romania
Roger Helmer, Member of the European Parliament, U.K.
Daniel Hannan, Member of the European Parliament, U.K.
Geoffrey Van Orden, Member of the European Parliament, U.K.
Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council
Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission
Catherine Ashton, Vice-President, European Commission
Viviane Reding, Vice-President, European Commission
Štefan Füle, EU Commissioner for Enlargement
Photo credit: arne.list (Creative Commons)

NBA’s Jason Collins: “Gay” Superhero!

Jason Collins SC1 NBA’s Jason Collins: Gay Superhero!

So I guess you’ve heard. Fading, 34 year-old NBA free agent Jason Collins (right) has been declared a hero for publicly announcing that he digs dudes. Well, it’s about time! Used to be all a guy had to do was die at Omaha Beach or some other such nonsense. The Imperialist USA is finally seeing some major progress.

What callous soul wouldn’t be moved by this youngish man’s gallantry? Who wouldn’t shudder at his sacrifice?

Merriam-Webster’s defines courage as “mental or moral strength to venture, persevere, and withstand danger, fear, or difficulty.” Think of it. Just as his middling basketball career was coming to a close and he was preparing to fade into relative obscurity – joining millions of others in the Obama unemployment lines – Jason Collins stood tall and said, “No! I will not take the easy road!”

This selfless giant of a man put everything on the line and valiantly (Optional: may or may not insert theme to “Battle Hymn of the Republic” here) – announced to the world: “I’m a 34-year-old NBA center. I’m black. And I’m gay.”

With everything to lose and nothing to gain, Jason Collins, in one single, selfless act, has rushed forward to jump on that “homophobic” grenade of persecution each of his LGBT brethren, sistren, and whatever-else-tren face daily. For every oppressed dude-digging-dude, chick-digging-chick, or cross-dressing whatchahoozie, Jason Collins has “taken one for the home team.”

Danger? Fear? Difficulty? One can only imagine.

Have you ever tried to fend off a herd of undulating, adulating media-types and Hollywood celebs? Me neither. Guy could get slobbered on – might even skin an elbow.

And just as he was ready to move to the next level of his basketball career (couch, Cheetos, and NBA 2K13 on his PlayStation), Jason may now have to contend with millions in product endorsements, speaking fees, and (potentially) even a renewed NBA contract. Have you ever dealt with lawyers? I have. I am a lawyer. We’re a pain in the butt.

But then it occurred to me. Collins had a girlfriend of eight years. In fact, they were engaged to be married before he dumped her. This would make him “bisexual” then, wouldn’t it? So – and bear with me here – if being “gay” makes him a hero, does being “bi” make him a superhero? That. Is. Awesome! I don’t know: “Captain Switch-Hitter”? (Sorry for the mixed metaphor.)

Then again, if he’s “bisexual,” might that actually diminish his heroism? Would it make him only half a hero, or would it just cancel out altogether, making him ordinary again?

It’s all so confusing.

How do you get a call from the White House? Sandra Fluke? Jason Collins? I see a theme developing here. Declare sexual liberation from all that archaic “morality” stuff and – ring, ring – “Barack on line one.”

Oh, sure, a bunch of those “Christians” and conservatives are up-in-arms over the president’s “bizarre priorities” – that he would personally call Jason Collins to congratulate him over “the love that dare not speak its name,” while completely ignoring a guy like Cameron Lyle.

Who is Cameron Lyle, you ask? Well, little chance you’d know. And why should you? He’s just some attention-grabbing track and field star from the University of New Hampshire who sacrificed his athletic career to undergo the excruciating process of donating bone marrow to a total stranger dying of leukemia.

Yeah, I know. What a prima donna. They call that “heroic”? Puhleeze. Sure, like in a 1950s kinda way. We’ve evolved. We’re talking “gay pride” here. So, naturally, Collins gets the call – a little “one-on-one” if you will – while Lyle gets the shaft.

And all is well in the “progressive” time-space continuum.

But, lest you worry about Jason Collins’ incredible act of courage going otherwise unlauded by this president and his mainstream media, I shall hasten to comfort you. For Mr. Obama also heaped spoonfuls of sparkly-sweet sugar upon Jason’s hate-tattered brow at a frenzied news conference. CBS News describes it thusly: “President Obama told reporters he ‘couldn’t be prouder’ of NBA player Jason Collins, who one day earlier announced he was gay. Mr. Obama said Collins is ‘a role model’ to be able to say, ‘I’m still 7-foot-tall and can bang with Shaq, and deliver a hard foul.’”

Um, right, exactly. If we can’t be proud of sodomy, what can we be proud of?

Seriously, I’d encourage the next pro athlete engaged in some other hitherto-considered-deviant-sexual-lifestyle to ride the wave.

Who knows? In today’s ever-”progressive” culture, I could see President Obama awarding the Medal of Honor to the first polo player courageous enough to admit having a thing for his horse.

 

Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action.

Obama’s “Fairness” Economy Has Backfired

Barack Obama speech 7 SC Obamas Fairness Economy Has Backfired

One of the most seductive parts of President Barack Obama’s political message (and the message of progressive Democrats in general) is sympathy for the poor and a willingness to talk about the disparities of capitalism — about the rich being too rich and the poor being screwed. In some ways, it’s the predominant message of the Obama era.

And though it’s reasonable to contend that Republicans need to display more compassion — if for nothing else than their own political survival — isn’t it also reasonable to take stock of how things have gone for the poor under four-plus years of progressive rule?

Now, if you’re heavily invested in the market, life is peachy. A confounding fact, no doubt, when one considers that nearly every economic indicator known to mankind has been pretty abysmal of late. We are experiencing high unemployment, a shrinking labor force, stagnant gross domestic product growth and rickety consumer confidence. A disconnected market, though, has been on a historic boom. So if we need any more proof that life really isn’t fair, think about this: The rich have the Federal Reserve, and you have Harry Reid.

What does it mean in substance? According to a new Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data, thanks to a robust stock and bond market, coupled with a lousy housing market, the recovery has meant that households with a net worth in the upper 7 percent have seen their net worth rise, on average, by nearly 30 percent in the years after the recession and that everyone else’s net worth has dropped by an average of 4 percent.

The economic gap between whites and minorities is even worse. According to the Urban Institute, whites, on average, have two times the income of blacks and Hispanics and six times the wealth, and that gap is accelerating.

Read More at Reason . By David Harsanyi.

Five Most Wanted Economic Villains

Obama Geithner Credit Downgrade Deal SC Five Most Wanted Economic Villains

Everyone knows that the American financial system has been through a rough few years. Record public deficits, high unemployment, stagnant economic growth, yada, yada, yada. No surprise there. Americans can’t decide exactly who is to blame: Republicans or Democrats? Let’s just split the difference; we’ve decided and have a Republican House and Democratic Senate and Presidency. Maybe when government is closely divided, they’ll end up doing less damage that way. Or maybe not. It seems like the closely divided Congress has done little to ease our economic woes. Both parties bear some of the blame. Who, though, are the individuals who bear the most guilt for what has transpired? Who are the five most wanted economic villains in the modern day USA?

The fifth most guilty individual is Nancy Pelosi, the former majority leader of the House and current minority leader. Why Ms. Pelosi? After all, Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein stated that the House presided over by Pelosi was “on a path to become one of the most productive since the Great Society.” Isn’t that a good thing? Halt. The word “productive” when applied to the free enterprise system and about everything else besides government equals a good thing. When the word is applied to government, it is often a bad thing. The Great Society, as you know, was a massive increase in the size of the federal government. Nancy Pelosi’s “productivity” threatens to have much of the same result: expansion, expansion, expansion. She helped expand the federal government by passing a massive and ineffective stimulus bill, boosted the minimum wage (I thought we wanted less unemployment), and passed Obamacare, an unpopular program that threatens to wreak financial havoc on an already-troubled country. Such are some of Pelosi’s worst deeds.

Hate to hit on a guy who’s out of office, but he deserves it. Mr. Timothy Geithner stood behind some of the worst shenanigans in modern American economic history. Geithner was both head of the New York Federal Reserve and then the Secretary of the Treasury during Obama’s first term. In both positions, he strongly advocated for more financial assistance for big banks, from the budget in the form of TARP and the Federal Reserve in the form of cheap loans. These are probably his worst acts. Other than that, he failed to arrest the economic decline of the country during his time as Treasury Secretary.

Paul Krugman comes next. Mr. Krugman is a Nobel Laureate, professor, and New York Times columnist. His personal motto seems to be “never enough government.” No matter how many billions of dollars in stimulus Barack Obama and the Congress applied to the economy, it was never enough for Dr. Krugman. Whatever happens, he is sure to reply that the problem is insufficient government. No matter that the consensus seems to have emerged around free market, neoclassical economics instead of Dr. Krugman’s Keynesianism. Despite the unrivaled success of the free market, expect him to continue espousing his noxious form of economic interventionism to his death bed.

Now for the man you knew would have to be on the list. President Barack Obama shares the same liberal philosophy as Dr. Krugman, professions of being a moderate aside. He promised hope and has only brought disillusionment to a generation in desperate need of hope. Exploding food stamp use, massive government spending, and even an increased racial divide in terms of wealth have occurred under Obama . According to a recent article in the New York Times, Blacks and Hispanics have suffered far more than whites during his Presidency in economic terms. Of course, there is also Obamacare, which threatens to complete the morphing of the U.S. from one of the best places for medical care on the planet to a laughingstock in the international community.

At the top of the list of economic bunglers comes Ben Bernanke. Dr. Bernanke has failed to fix the economy despite the unprecedented amounts of money he has poured into the economy through his various QE programs. For those of you behind on the lingo, QE programs essentially increase the money supply by using the various tools of the Federal Reserve to do so. If QE 1, QE 2, QE3, and QE4 have failed to work, don’t hold your breath expecting it to work in the future. The unemployment rate is still bad despite Bernanke’s QEs and Obama’s stimulus plans. Economic growth is anemic. One bright spot has been the bubble Bernanke has helped create in the US stock market. But this bubble will come to an end; and when it does, it won’t be pretty.

Thankfully, Americans aren’t stupid like the central planners like to think, and they will wake up at some point to the fruitless attempts Bernanke, Obama, and company have made to stimulate the economy. The only question is: will they do it soon enough, or will America have to reach a place so ugly that we won’t recognize the America of our youth? Let us hope and pray that someone out there will have the gumption to take on the economic failures of the establishment before it is too late.

 

F. Peter Brown is Editor at the Sound Money Institute and Associate Editor at the Western Center for Journalism. He tweets  @FPBLibertarian.

 

The Lies Go Deeper Than You Ever Imagined

Team Obama Squad Liberal Media SC The Lies Go Deeper Than You Ever Imagined

If you read the newspapers and listen to the perpetual happy talk out of D.C., you might become convinced that the economy is improving.

For example, the Bureau of Labor Statistics is supposed to tell us the unemployment rate; and currently, it says the rate is 7.6%. But in reality, we’re being misled.

It’s understandable… we all want to believe the best. And most likely, you feel a little better off than you did four years ago. You can probably look around your neighborhood and see some people doing just fine.

But the sinister truth is that we’re being lied to. The government is sponsoring a campaign of misinformation, and we’re all the victims of a mass hypnosis.

It leads us to think – falsely – that all’s well in the U.S. of A.

A Stark Contrast

I just spent four days on the beautiful Island of Coronado. I was at a board meeting at a 125-year-old resort, the Hotel Del Coronado. All seemed like a fairy tale. I drove into the city of San Diego and had dinner at a lovely Zagat-rated restaurant. I met a group of friends in a skybox, complete with a buffet line, to watch the Padres beat up on one of their rivals.

But that’s where the fairy tale ends.

I also took the time to visit the community of El Centro, California. It’s down Interstate 8 from San Diego. In that town, headline unemployment is nearly 23%. Coming upon a church, I saw a line, winding around the block, of people simply wanting a hot meal.

This is the part of America the media is hiding. They don’t want to blemish President Obama. He feels people’s pain, so he can’t be responsible… right?

But the reality is that every Coronado, America has at least one El Centro.

If you dig deeper and calculate unemployment, adding those people standing in the food line who are unemployed, discouraged, and dropping out of the job search, the unemployment rate is 14.3%.

Economist John Williams counts those discouraged workers, and he says that national unemployment is 23%.

If this is the actual measure for all of America, we can only imagine what the true unemployment rate is in El Centro.

Digging Into the Numbers

Here are some different ways to look at it. The phony “official” unemployment rate peaked at 8.3%, and that was a 31-year high. It remained over 8% for 41 months, the worst record since the Great Depression.

There were 12.8 million people out of work at the peak of the Great Depression. There are currently 12.3 million out of work today. And only 58% of the population is working, the lowest since 1983. That means a record 100 million working-age Americans are unemployed.

Put differently, the actual rate of unemployment is two to three times the Bureau of Labor’s bullsh… I mean, statistics.

And the same is true about prices. The CPI is a crock of foul-smelling bologna.

John Williams believes that the manipulated rate of consumer inflation (CPI) – supposedly 1.6% – is actually 9.2%, as calculated by the official U.S. government methodology of 1990.

Why the disparity in the numbers? Put simply, the official methodology for calculating inflation has been manipulated.

The Cruel Reality

If I’ve learned one lesson in my 30 years of political activity and reporting, it’s that the government lies. A lot. Both parties are equally guilty, too.

And the bigger the lie, the more likely people are to believe it. Today’s economic situation is no different.

With that in mind, I assure you this isn’t the last time I’m going to talk numbers. In fact, this is just the tip of the economic iceberg. So stay tuned.

 

This article originally appeared at CapitolHillDaily.com and is reprinted here with permission.