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Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

The more we learn about this business of Meg Whitman, Republican gubernatorial candidate in California, supposedly hiring an undocumented worker as a domestic the more we have to ask ourselves, how on earth did Gloria Allred ever become known as a hotshot attorney? The letter from the Social Security Administration that Allred cites as damning proof of Whitman’s wrongdoing does no such thing. Read for yourself: "This letter does not imply that you or your employee intentionally provided incorrect information about the employee’s name or SSN. It is not a basis, in and of itself, for you to take any...

Associated Press Writers – 7 mins ago WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama insisted Friday that the U.S. economy is digging itself out of the deepest recession in decades but conceded that "progress has been painfully slow" and many voters in November's elections may blame him. Facing a rising jobless rate, Obama told a White House news conference: "For all the progress we've made, we're not there yet. And that means people are frustrated and why people are angry." "Because I am president, and the Democrats have control of the House and Senate, it's understandable that people are saying, 'What have...

Quote: On Sept. 27, 2009, the Denver Post reported that the Obama administration offered Senate candidate Romanoff a position if he canceled plans to run for the Democratic nomination against incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet. The paper said the job offer, which specified particular jobs, reportedly was delivered by Jim Messina, Obama’s deputy chief of staff. One position the Post cited was a job at USAID, the foreign aid agency. Messina contacted Romanoff soon after news leaked in August 2009 that Romanoff, former Colorado House speaker, would make a primary run against Bennet.

WEST POINT -- President Obama on Saturday pledged to shape a new "international order" as part of a national security strategy that emphasizes the president's belief in global institutions and America's role in promoting Democratic values around the world. "The international order we seek is one that can resolve the challenges of our times,'" he said in prepared remarks. "Countering violent extremism and insurgency; stopping the spread of nuclear weapons and securing nuclear materials; combating a changing climate and sustaining global growth; helping countries feed themselves and care for their sick; preventing conflict and healing its wounds."

WASHINGTON (AP) - The Obama administration on Friday removed sanctions against three Russian organizations the U.S. had previously accused of assisting Iran's effort to develop nuclear weapons. Penalties against a fourth Russian entity previously accused of illicit arms sales to Syria also were lifted.

<p>President Obama has decided to pre-announce to the world once-secret American ballistic missile tests and satellite launches.</p>

The 'Cordoba Initiative' has announced plans to build a $100-million plus mosque overlooking Ground Zero at the World Trade Center. Its leader, Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, says it "will serve as the platform to launch a broader vision of Muslim-West harmony and interdependence." As he has made clear, Rauf supports supplementing our Constitution by making sharia law optional -- optional at least for now -- for Muslims living here in America. Debra Burlingame and Robert Spencer discussed this last night on-air with Sean Hannity. [See video here. View text transcript of video here.] Before their sparing any semblance of investigative...

A top Department of Homeland Security official reportedly said his agency will not necessarily process illegal immigrants referred to them by Arizona authorities. John Morton, assistant secretary of homeland security for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, made the comment during a meeting on Wednesday with the editorial board of the Chicago Tribune, the newspaper reports. "I don't think the Arizona law, or laws like it, are the solution," Morton told the newspaper. The best way to reduce illegal immigration is through a comprehensive federal approach, he said, and not a patchwork of state laws. The law, which criminalizes being in...

In a letter today to President Obama, I asked for the resignation of White House Deputy Chief Technology Officer Andrew McLaughlin. Last week, McLaughlin was officially reprimanded for violating its ethics policies. A White House investigation found that McLaughlin, a former senior executive at Google, had repeatedly circumvented both the letter and spirit of White House ethics rules by communicating with former colleagues about Administration policies affecting the company.The White House confirmed that Mr. McLaughlin used his personal Gmail account when discussing White House business, possibly violating federal archiving rules.From web privacy to Net neutrality to China’s Internet policies, McLaughlin...

Newt Gingrich is among those who have noted a serious chink in the protective armor the Obama administration and Elena Kagan’s other defenders have tried to throw up around her Supreme Court nomination. The vulnerability has taken on increased importance insofar as it involves one of the few concrete positions or actions taken by the nominee in a long career almost completely bereft of written or spoken positions that shed light on her judgment and potential judicial philosophy. [1]It turns out that, at the very moment Ms. Kagan was pushing aggressively to remove military recruiters from the Harvard Law School...

This story might slip right past you. It’s understandable, considering most Americans have no idea of the context or how it happened that the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) is now set for 20 years in Iraq, thanks to a deal just inked between the Iraqi government and Communist China. The Iraqis originally selected America’s Exxon-Mobil. I’ll wager you probably didn’t know that. You’ll want to read on. But brace yourself. It’s the classic American political tale of self-loathing crafted by the usual suspects. With its government firm and its security at its post-surge best, the Iraqi government...

A St. Louis scientist who was among a select group picked by the Obama administration to pursue a solution to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has been removed from the group because of writings on his website, the U.S. Energy Department confirmed Wednesday. Washington University physics professor Jonathan Katz was one of five top scientists chosen by the Department of Energy and attended meetings in Houston last week. Though considered a leading scientist, Katz's website postings often touch on social issues. Some of those writings have stirred anger in the past and include postings defending homophobia and...

KALAMAZOO — The White House appears to be laying the groundwork for President Barack Obama to shake the hand of each senior at Kalamazoo Central High School’s commencement ceremony next month. Seniors are being asked to provide their birthdates, Social Security numbers and citizen status to the Secret Service so background checks could be performed. Such a check is required for anyone who gets within an arm’s length of the president, students were told at their senior breakfast Friday.

Elena Kagan an avowed socialist? Is it really that shocking that Obama would nominate a fellow socialist to the highest court in the land? Obama’s Supreme Court Justice Nominee Elena Kagan has already been under a lot of scrutiny since her booting military recruiters off of Harvard’s campus, but now Redstate has gotten a hold of her Thesis which will prove to be a doosy when her confirmation hearings begin. Direct link to PDF: http://infidelsarecool.com/elena-kagan-thesis.pdf

Via Ace. Dude, I’m starting to think this might be the guy. A solid first term, then reelection in 2014, and suddenly the wide-open 2016 primaries are right around the corner… Elsewhere today, thanks to Christie’s support, the Jersey state senate pushed through a school voucher bill over the objections of the teachers union. Quote: “Sen. Raymond J. Lesniak, D-Union, the committee chairman, then ordered the hearing held on the Annex steps in front of hundreds of cheering private-school students who had been bused in to rally for the measure.”

This proves Elena Kagan is an open and avowed socialist. The woman declares that socialists must stick together instead of fracture in order to advance a socialist agenda, which Kagan advocates.

WASHINGTON — Six West Coast senatorsinstroduced legislation Thursday that would ban permanently new oil-and-gas drilling off of the California, Oregon and Washington state coasts. Citing the catastrophic blowout now fouling the Gulf of Mexico, the six Democratic lawmakers called for making permanent what has been a long-standing moratorium on new Outer Continental Shelf energy exploration and development along the West Coast. “We simply cannot afford the risk posed by oil drilling off our magnificent coast,” Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., said. Boxer's Washington state colleague, Sen. Maria Cantwell, added that “it is simply unacceptable to risk irreparable harm to our coastal...

WASHINGTON — Critics who allege that Congress overstepped the U.S. Constitution by requiring Americans to carry health insurance are "flatly wrong," the Obama administration said Wednesday in its first court defense of the landmark health care law. Congress acted well within its power to regulate interstate commerce and to provide for the general welfare, Justice Department lawyers argued in a 46-page brief filed in federal district court in Detroit. For the courts to overturn President Barack Obama's signature domestic legislation would amount to unwarranted interference with the policymaking authority of Congress, they added.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) -- Nine people have been indicted in federal court on charges they accessed President Barack Obama's student loan records while employed for a Department of Education contractor in Iowa. The U.S. attorney's office says a grand jury returned the indictments Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Davenport.

E-mails and other records of Dr. Eric Whitaker -- one of President Obama's best friends -- have been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury... The investigation involves "faith-based initiatives" and health-awareness campaigns funded by the Illinois Department of Public Health when Whitaker ran the agency for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich... Obama has said he recommended Whitaker for that job, which Whitaker landed in April 2003. The president's friend resigned in October 2007 to join Obama's wife, Michelle, as an executive at the University of Chicago Medical Center. On Friday, Whitaker defended his work as the state's former top health official,...

Two people were injured in a Sunday afternoon shooting that happened outside a Cinco de Mayo celebration. Two groups of juveniles exchanged gunfire in the area of Lake Street and 5th Avenue, according to Minneapolis Police Sgt. Bill Palmer. Authorities say the incident was gang-related. One teen was shot in the chest and taken to Hennepin County Medical Center with life-threatening injuries. Another teen was hospitalized with non-life threatening injuries after being shot in the foot and the leg. Police have one person in custody in connection with the incident, which happened near a Cinco de Mayo celebration. They have...

The Coming Oil Price Shock Commodities / Crude Oil May 08, 2010 - 05:20 PM By: Andrew McKillop Fatal Difference - Fatal Indifference - We need only to recap the experience of the 1970s and 1980s to understand why massive public national deficit financing of Keynesian-type spending to restore global economic growth will almost surely end with a 1970s style oil shock. That is oil price explosion, falling consumer confidence and corporate investment, falling economic growth, finance sector panic, competitive devaluation of world moneys and a catastrophic slump back into recession. Like the 1970s experience, the recession will be very...

Major Update Below!As I posted yesterday, there was a disturbing blurb in a NY Times article that indicated Faisal Shahzad, the now infamous Times Square Bomber, was under surveillance as a potential terrorist during the Bush administration. George LaMonica, a 35-year-old computer consultant, said he bought his two-bedroom condominium in Norwalk, Conn., from Mr. Shahzad for $261,000 in May 2004. A few weeks after he moved in, Mr. LaMonica said, investigators from the national Joint Terrorism Task Force [JTTF] interviewed him, asking for details of the transaction and for information about Mr. Shahzad. It struck Mr. LaMonica as unusual, but...

One aspect of a new and improved federal regulatory scheme is the seizure of 401(k) retirement plans and the subsequent government-administered disbursement of the funds. In Chapter 3 of the Annual Report on the Middle Class released in February by Vice President Biden and the White House Task Force on the Middle Class, the Obama administration calls for enhancing the “retirement options” for the middle class by imposing “new regulations to improve the transparency and adequacy of 401(k) retirement savings.” The plan, as sketched in the 43-page document, calls for the creation of something called “Guaranteed Retirement Accounts” (GRAs). Biden...

The Democrats’ health care takeover didn’t stop with ObamaCare and there are some hurtful provisions in the new financial regulation bill Americans should know about if they have any expensive dental procedures coming up. For millions of American teenagers braces are an embarrassing rite of passage, and for their parents, a tremendous cost. According to bracesinfo.com [1], the average prices of straightening a teenager’s teeth is about $5,400. In South Carolina, where themedian family income is approximately $45,000 [2], the cost of braces for one child can total more than 10 percent of a parent’s gross income for the year....

The last few days have seen an extraordinary outburst of criticism of Arizona’s new immigration law.  In the nation’s elite media outlets, its most respected commentators are portraying the law as an act of police-state repression.  Many, if not all, of the specific criticisms can be refuted simply by reading the law itself, but others are more generalized criticisms of immigration enforcement.  In any event, it’s hard to choose the most over-the-top and wrongheaded commentary on the law, but here are ten choices, in no particular order.  (If you don’t know why a particular statement is wrong, you can check...

Helen Thomas simply longs for the days when reporters and pundits could report spin, lies and opinion as fact and were never held accountable outside of page A-16 retractions. The new media’s finest moment came when in 2004 CBS’s Dan Rather attempted to influence a national election (much like his predecessor Walter Cronkite did with the Vietnam War after the Tet Offensive), but unlike then, now there is a new media filled with grassroots activists who were going to hold the old media accountable and one of those activists on the Conservative Site Free-Republic under the handle “Buckhead,” was able...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

The hike would pay for more aggressive conservation programs and a solar plan designed to create 16,000 jobs as well as cover the fluctuating price of coal and natural gas. Households that get their power from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power could see their electric bills go up between 8.8% and 28.4%, depending on where they live and how much energy they use, under a plan unveiled Monday by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

On Tuesday night about 1,100 people participated in a sold-out global warming debate that, in the end, turned downtown Toronto's new concert hall at the Royal Conservatory of Music into a microcosm of a larger tranformation that is sweeping the world. The debate pitted two well known global warming activists of international repute against two well-known skeptics. The skeptics won, shifting the audience's support away from the drastic global warming action demanded by activists and toward the moderate reponse of the skeptics, a move that is rapidly becoming a trend everywhere. If global warming is a problem -- and many...

WASHINGTON - After weeks of secretive talks, a bipartisan group in the Senate edged closer yesterday to a health-care compromise that omits two key Democratic priorities but incorporates provisions to slow the explosive rise in medical costs, officials said. These officials said participants were on track to exclude a requirement many congressional Democrats seek for businesses to offer coverage to their workers. Nor would there be a provision for a government insurance option, despite President Obama's support for such a plan.

The White House on Monday said President Obama would consider asking Congress to delay the summer break if he hasn't seen sufficient progress on healthcare reform by the August recess. Hours after Obama told reporters that he is "going to get this done," White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said that it is unlikely legislation will be finalized before the recess.

The airline Yemenia has said it may reconsider an order for 10 Airbus A350s because it has received "no support" from the manufacturer. Yemenia chairman Abdul Khaleq al-Qadi said Airbus had jumped to conclusions after the crash of a Yemenia plane off the Comoros Islands last week. Without any proof, he said, Airbus had told the media the crash was the result of technical problems.

NEW YORK (Fortune) -- The latest polling looks great for President Obama: It shows that Americans love national health care. If history and polling trends are any guide, however, that will change. Voters right now are in what the famous pollster Daniel Yankelovich called the Wishful Thinking stage -- a moment in the life of an opinion analogous to the dreamy early days of a relationship. Yankelovich believed opinion evolved through seven stages: Dawning Awareness, Greater Urgency, Reaching for Solutions, Wishful Thinking, Weighing the Choices, Taking a Stand, and Making a Responsible Judgment. In the next few weeks, when voters...

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For the 77th consecutive month, FNC finished first in total day and prime time ratings during May. FNC was the sixth highest rated cable network on all of basic cable during prime time for the month (CNN and MSNBC finished 19th and 26th) and the seventh rated network in total day (CNN and MSNBC were 19th and 27th). FNC also had 11 out of the top 13 programs in cable during the month in Total Viewers. The O'Reilly Factor was the #1 program in cable news for the 90th consecutive month, and saw gains in Total Viewers year-to-year (26%).

The Obama administration’s strongest option as it fights to keep hundreds of photographs of prisoner abuse secret may be to classify them and claim they are exempt from disclosure under the Freedom of Information Act, experts on government secrecy said Thursday

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

* KBW analysis shows banks need to raise capital * Sees Bank of America needing more government help (Adds dateline, detail on government stress test) NEW YORK, April 23 (Reuters) - U.S. banks including Bank of America Corp (BAC.N), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) may need to raise $1 trillion of capital, Keefe, Bruyette and Woods analysts said in a report on Thursday, after they stress tested the industry.

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration and its European allies are preparing proposals that would shift strategy toward Iran by dropping a longstanding American insistence that Tehran rapidly shut down nuclear facilities during the early phases of negotiations over its atomic program, according to officials involved in the discussions.

"Let me show you how this all works since you will own us in a few weeks...better give you a quick brush up on things...ok?"

  As are all flowers, the month of May is dedicated to the Mary, whom we celebrate as Queen of Heaven on the last day of this month. Early in May, a statue of the Virgin at church is crowned with a wreath of roses, and the same are laid at her feet. Little girls and boys dress up in their best, often in blue; one child carries the crown on a cushion to the statue and another child is chosen to crown the statue. The selection process varies -- sometimes a boy is chosen to bear the wreath,...

Welcome To.... 'Amy's Place' welcomes all poets and those who enjoy poetry.'Amy's Place' is more than just about poetry.Come in, relax, and share with fellow FReepersyour thoughts about any of the things on the *Menu*. Enjoy! :) Never Forget! Bad Penny Amy's personal guardian ~ the ever charming, lovable, huggable, LouieWolf Many thanks for stopping by. : )

During the month of May - the month of Mary - we feel a special protection of Our Lady that extends to all the faithful; we feel a special joy that shines and illuminates our hearts expressing the universal certainty of Catholics that the indispensable patronage of our heavenly mother becomes even more tender, more loving and more full of visible mercy and exorable condescendence during her month of May. Even after the month of May passes, a remnant of this remains if we have profited from those thirty-one days especially consecrated to Our Lady. We are left with an...

WASHINGTON, May 1, 2007 – In an effort to draw attention to the personal sacrifices of the men and women of the armed forces and their families, Congress has designated May as National Military Appreciation Month. “Our military has played a major role in the development of our country chronicled through their unbending honor, their dedication to duty and their love of country,” the National Military Appreciation Month Web site states. “Federal, state and local governments and private sector entities are invited to participate in this special month and to encourage everyone to sponsor and participate in programs.” The...

Green candidate, 9/11 theorist stirs debate By Brian Hutchinson, National Post Published: Friday, April 13, 2007 Kevin Potvin, a federal Green party candidate in Vancouver, has admitted his spirits soared while watching the 9/11 terrorist events unfold on television. "Beautiful!" he describes a little voice inside him saying, when the second twin tower in New York City fell, and thousands died. Then came news that the Pentagon in Washington was hit. More deaths. "I felt an urge to pump my fist in the air," wrote Mr. Potvin in the smudgy pages of the Republic of East Vancouver, a biweekly...

The publication of Hubris is filled with irony for David Corn, Washington editor of the left-wing Nation magazine. He was present at the creation of the Valerie Plame "scandal," which the enemies of George W. Bush hoped could bring down a president. Nobody was more responsible for bloating this episode. Yet Corn is coauthor of a book that has had the effect of killing the story. Thanks to Corn's intrepid coauthor, Newsweek investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, Hubris definitively revealed then-Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage as my source that Joseph Wilson's wife, Valerie, worked for the CIA and suggested her...

Cosmic rays may solve global warming problem By Roger Highfield, Science Editor (Filed: 04/10/2006) Cosmic events could help soften the impact of global warming by triggering cloud formations, suggests research published yesterday. A team of Danish scientists concluded in the Proceedings of the Royal Society that making clouds is plausible, using the Sun's magnetic field. The Sun has been at its strongest for more than 60 years and a period of high solar activity could be approaching its end. "This would produce a cooling effect that could counter part of the global warming predicted for the next century," said Dr...