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The uncle says Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan was a sensitive man haunted by the wartime disabilities of soldiers he treated. The Army psychiatrist was not political, his relatives in the West Bank say. Hamad described his nephew as a gentle soul who once, as a young adult, mourned for three months after rolling over during a nap and crushing his pet parakeet. During medical school, the uncle said, Hasan switched his major to psychiatry after fainting at the sight of blood while delivering a baby. The young man became more religious after the death of his parents, who were Muslims...

Wall Street: Dumb as It Ever Was November 06, 2009 | about: DIA / QQQQ / SPY Todd Kenyon I had to take a few moments away from shouting at the circus-of-the-inane on CNBC to vent. All the focus on this jobs number this morning should confirm to any rational person that the great majority of what goes on in Wall Street is a complete waste of time at best and a criminal destruction of value at worst. Being trained as a scientist in a former life just makes it harder to watch this garbage. Yesterday afternoon some random NYSE...

Reenergized Republicans are savoring victories in two states that President Obama won last year, with party chairman Michael S. Steele celebrating the GOP's first turnabout after three years of Democratic wins by proclaiming a "Republican renaissance." But behind the Republican Party's elation after capturing the governorships in New Jersey and Virginia are troubling fissures within party ranks over how best to lead the GOP back to power in 2010. Conservative grass-roots activists drew national attention to New York's 23rd congressional district by bucking the party establishment and forcing out a Republican nominee, Dede Scozzafava, whom they deemed too moderate. But...

Over the years, I have spent a great deal of time studying psychology. To be specific, I've studied how psychology is often used to manipulate people. I first gained an interest in this subject years ago as it pertained to cultists (LONG story), but eventually I started to notice the same tactics used in the media, in political debate, and in general conversation with left-leaning people. In this post I will go over some of the basic tactics often used by those who wish to manipulate you, and how you can defend against them. ...

HOFFMAN, DOUGLAS Receipts $307,889 Individual $187,389 PAC $0 Party $18,500 Candidate $102,000 Other $0 Disbursements Cash on Hand Debt $234,843 $146,090 $430,400 10/14/2009 SCOZZAFAVA, DIERDRE K Receipts $250,206 Individual $120,442 PAC $103,891 Party $13,850 Candidate $12,000 Other $23 Disbursements Cash on Hand Debt $209,502 $81,407 $24,000 10/14/2009 OWENS, WILLIAM Receipts $503,297 Individual $320,654 PAC $161,050 Party $9,916 Candidate $11,677 Other $0 Disbursements Cash on Hand Debt $374,936 $256,721 $251,121 10/14/2009 Hoffman Cash $146,090 Debt $430,400 SCOZZAFAVA Cash $81,407 Debt $24,000 Owens Cash $256,721 Debt $251,121

So Obama had to dress up a bunch of liberal doctors (most of whom are big democrat and Obama donors) and parade them in front of cameras to 'prove' doctors want Obamacare. Right. Remember, send these to your reps and senators along with your notes and emails. Let them know you're watching. Lit drop these in different places. Give to people who you know are on the fence and unsure. For the whole series of Zero dollar bills, go here: "Flickr Archive of Zero Bills"

As a survivor of childhood sexual abuse, Lauren Book is the face behind some of the state's toughest sex-offender laws -- laws she says have had unintended consequences. Lauren Book walks among grimy tents, wooden shanties, cardboard boxes, rusty cars and piles of garbage. On this day, it's quiet under the Julia Tuttle Causeway, except for the deafening drone of cars and trucks barreling over the bridge above. ``This is Homer's house,'' Book says, standing in front of a small wooden door on a wretched shack that looks more like an outhouse than a home. Homer isn't there because he...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Under pressure to show quick results from the economic stimulus, the White House is taking credit for starting to build hundreds of rural water systems nationwide. But don't look for construction crews anytime soon. At most job sites, it could be awhile. Sometimes, a long while. It all depends on what the definition of "starting" is. ___ THE SPIN: Vice President Joe Biden said two weeks ago, "We set a goal of starting to build 200 water sanitary systems and wastewater treatment facilities in rural America. We've met that goal." The White House Web site says "We...

Not that it matters anymore, but Savage reported on Van Jones way back in March. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6WMDOu3h3Y

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. government has hauled in about $4 billion in profits from large banks that have repaid their obligations from last year's federal bailout, The New York Times reported Sunday. Critics of the bailout were concerned that the Treasury Department would never see a return on its investment. But the government has already claimed profits from eight of the biggest banks.

SAN FRANCISCO — As debate over federally funded health care coverage rages across the country, a survey released Wednesday found that San Francisco's universal health care scheme gets high marks from participants. Of the nearly 1,100 users surveyed, 63 percent said they were "very satisfied" with the program, known as Healthy San Francisco, according to the survey conducted by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. An additional 31 percent said they were "somewhat satisfied." More than 45,000 residents are enrolled in the landmark plan, created in 2006 to provide health care for residents who lack private insurance but are not eligible...

A Page One article in Saturday's Washington Post blaring the headline "Talk Radio Campaign Frightening Seniors" states, "A campaign on conservative talk radio ... has sparked fear among senior citizens that the health care bill...will lead to end-of-life 'rationing' and even 'euthanasia,' " and that the bill has been described as "guiding you in how to die."...The reader looking for examples of this "talk show" campaign will be disappointed. Not one talk-radio host is quoted, and no specific radio show is mentioned (though The Post does quote an interview done on my radio show, without telling the reader the interview...

Democrats are taking credit for a remarkable feat: creating 3,236 new jobs in the program's first three months. But those jobs lasted on average only 35 hours, or about one work week. After that, those workers were effectively back unemployed, according to an Associated Press analysis of state spending and hiring data.

Washington D.C., May 21, 2009 / 11:40 am (CNA).- Two Catholic commentators are lamenting the “sorry ignorance of recent American history” displayed by L'Osservatore Romano—the newspaper published by the Vatican—in its favorable reaction to President Obama's recent commencement speech at Notre Dame. However, they caution, readers should not make the mistake of thinking that the newspaper speaks for the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II's official biographer, George Weigel, wrote in an article for National Review Online that the pieces published by L'Osservatore Romano have caused pro-administration American journalists and activists to leap with “barely concealed glee” on the...

Democrats hold the White House and comfortable majorities in both houses of Congress. Their new president comes from humble beginnings. He grew up without the moral influence of a father. Unlike Gore and Kerry, who were born with silver spoons in their mouths, or even Carter, Dukakis, Mondale, or Humphrey, who came from upper middle class homes, Barack Obama has little in common with presidential candidates of either political party, except for one: Bill Clinton. Both men transcended their humble roots by receiving elite education and succeeding in electoral politics. Watch how "Barry" behaves. Listen to his words. Ignore the...

The new law gives newspaper printers and publishers a 40 percent cut in the state's main business tax. http://www.butasforme.com/2009/05/10/obama-prepares-way-to-bailout-liberal-media/

An Independent Thinker On and Off the Court Superme Court Justice David Souter may be little known outside his small circle of friends… but those who know him or work with him say Souter… took serious interest in the law and his work…. Souter's tenure on the court was marked by a willingness to vote outside political party lines, marking him as an independent thinker. "He was a classic frugal Yankee Republican. He's been known to reheat yesterday's coffee in the microwave," recalled Rebecca Tushnet, who was one of Souter's clerks… and is now a law professor at Georgetown University….

NEW YORK – Most Republican governors have broken with their GOP colleagues in Congress and are pushing for passage of President Barack Obama's economic aid plan that would send billions to states for education, public works and health care. Their state treasuries drained by the financial crisis, governors would welcome the money from Capitol Hill, where GOP lawmakers are more skeptical of Obama's spending priorities. The 2008 GOP vice presidential nominee, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, scheduled meetings in Washington this weekend with Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky and other senators to press for her state's share of the...

In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich. Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the...

Citizenhip issue was reported today on Baynews9. Can anyone post a copy of the report? The news channel is in the Tampa area and has wide coverage.

• He collects Spider-Man and Conan the Barbarian comics • He was known as "O'Bomber" at high school for his skill at basketball • His name means "one who is blessed" in Swahili • His favourite meal is wife Michelle's shrimp linguini • He won a Grammy in 2006 for the audio version of his memoir, Dreams From My Father • He is left-handed – the sixth post-war president to be left-handed • He has read every Harry Potter book • He owns a set of red boxing gloves autographed by Muhammad Ali • He worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice...

The View's conservative cutie Elizabeth Hasselbeck stunned viewers today by throwing her support behind president-elect Barack Obama. Executive Producer Barbara Walters asked Hasselbeck, who campaigned with John McCain's running mate Sarah Palin, how she felt after seeing McCain/Palin go down to defeat on election night.

It's a plausible claim because Republicans do tend to have more faith in markets than Democrats. The Republicans had an answer. But to find it you needed to search the pages of the Wall Street Journal, or read conservative columnists, or listen to talk radio. It didn't come from McCain or Palin. They wasted crucial days decrying greed on Wall Street. And while you and I know that Wall Street is peopled by Obama-backing Democrats, most Americans think Wall Street is the home of Republicans in frock coats and bowler hats. What they should have done is to point out...

Because the New York Times and LA Times, ABC, CBS, NBC, MSNBC, CNN, PBS, NPR and the entire American news industry is infested with left-wing radicals pushing an agenda today, the rest of the nation is just now learning what conservative Americans have known for years. The “mainstream media” is run by left-wing news rooms, film makers, book and magazine publishers and college campus crackpots, and none of them are telling the American people the truth about their “messiah” Barack Hussein Obama. Because the “mainstream news media” – augmented by left-wing Hollywood film makers and New York magazine publishers have...

Record numbers of American voters tuned in to the three debates, proving only two things. Americans are very concerned about the future of their nation and they want to know more about the two tickets running for the highest office in the land. What we have learned so far... 1) Modern debates are designed to hide facts, not provide facts. 2) It’s a mistake to allow only left-wing Democrats like Jim Lehrer, Gwen Ifill and Tom Brokaw, to control the most important debates of our generation. 3) Style trumps substance for too many Americans. 4) We need an electric hot...

Fox radio news has issued a bulletin claiming Obama's relationship with U of I Professor William Ayers, founder of a socialist radical group known as The Weathermen was "Tenuous". The report heard over Chicago's WIND was repeating the New York Times claim probably and picked up through AP. The Obama's campaign reply to Palin charge that relationship between Ayers and Obama were "pals" was their relationbship was "tenuous". Reliable sources however have reported that not only did Ayers fund raise and assist Obama in his bid for Illinois state senator. But also sat on the Chicago Annenberg Challenge board which...

Of course the AP couldn't syndicate an article without inserting a lil' spin. They coulda said she earned all her tax deductions the old fashioned way....by birthing them.....

A bad answer not because it’s so awkward but because she lacks the knack for spinning tough questions to her advantage in a way politicians ought to be able to. E.g., “Any decision is a bad decision, Katie, where the Court arrogates to itself the right to decide difficult questions which, in a democracy, should be left to the public.” An answer like that would have gone a long way towards countering Biden’s dopey point about the virtue of Roe v. Wade lying in its expression of consensus. Hey, Joe? Consensus is best determined at the ballot box. If Biden...

Ethan Winner Responds: Claims He Produced Video Ethan Winner responds. Written like a VP in a public relations firm that specializes in crisis management and grassroots organization. I'll post the whole thing below. He produced the video? He paid for the voice-over narration which he found through a talent agency? The voice-over artist has never done any work for the Obama campaign? Uh, yeah, right.He then goes on to sidestep the question of the lie he puts forth in the video: that Palin was a member of the Alaskan Indepence Party -- which she wasn't. That is empirical fact. Instead,...

BLINK and you would have missed it. The expression of disgust on former US president Bill Clinton's face during his speech to the Democratic National Convention as he says "Obama" lasts for just a fraction of a second. But to Paul Ekman it was glaringly obvious. "Given that he probably feels jilted that his wife Hillary didn't get the nomination, I would have to say that the entire speech was actually given very gracefully," says Ekman, who has studied people's facial expressions and how they relate to what they are thinking for over 40 years. It seems that Clinton's micro-expression...

Welcome to SpinSpotter All the news that's fit to de-spin. Spin doesn't belong in the news. It's like putting motor oil in the mojito. We have tremendous respect for journalists, but who would argue that the media circus isn't out of control? A full 66% of Americans think the press is one-sided. Now there's a website and software tool that exposes news spin and bias, misuse of sources, and suspect factual support. At SpinSpotter, you'll experience the news in a profound new way. Yes, the truth is back in town.

So I just saw the first part of O'Reilly's 4 part mini series I like to call, "Obama: Unscripted" Check Out the video at this link! I know many of you dislike O'Reilly and I understand you have your reasons, but check out this video, and let me know what you honestly think.

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin and her Republican supporters held back little Wednesday as they issued dismissive attacks on Barack Obama and flattering praise on her credentials to be vice president. In some cases, the reproach and the praise stretched the truth. Some examples: PALIN: "I have protected the taxpayers by vetoing wasteful spending ... and championed reform to end the abuses of earmark spending by Congress. I told the Congress 'thanks but no thanks' for that Bridge to Nowhere." THE FACTS: As mayor of Wasilla, Palin hired a lobbyist and traveled to Washington annually to support...

Joe Biden once got in trouble for plagiarizing a speech and inflating his academic record. So it will not surprise you to find that his famous working-class background turns out to be mythical. But it may surprise you to learn that Biden isn't the one who has trouble with the facts. In his Wednesday night speech at the Democratic convention, Biden referred to "those of us who grew up in middle-class neighborhoods like Scranton and Wilmington." In the video preceding his address, he said that the people he knew as a boy didn't regard themselves as working class but as...

I hope everyone has heard about the war in South Ossetia and Georgia. You probably are convinced by what the media reports, in particular that “Russia is the aggressor against innocent Georgia”. Our government is backing Georgia and also telling us about Russia’s aggression. But that is a lie. I have always made fun of the conspiracy theory people, but I find myself in the same position–criticizing the government and sounding crazy. But I cannot keep quite when such an injustice is going on; so please do not take my words as that of a crazy man who hates America–on...

Billionaire fugitive Marc Rich, a close personal friend of President Bill Clinton and his wife, Hilary, was one of the most important high-level contacts Mossad had in the United States. The revelations published here for the first time, could be a serious blow for Hilary Clinton’s plans to run for the Presidency. Today Rich, a Belgium-born Jew who has taken Spanish nationality, lives in Switzerland under heavy armed guard protection. There is no extradition treaty with the United States to enable him to be questioned by the FBI about his until now secret connection to Mossad. In January, 2000,...

Media: Four years ago this week, we noted how negative coverage of the Iraq War had become. But that was when things weren't going well. This is now, when things are going much better. So coverage must be much more positive, right? (with asterisks indicating page-toppers): • June 11: "Going to War Not Worth It, More Voters Say"* "NATO Not Expected to Send Force to Iraq" • June 13: "Retired Officials Say Bush Must Go"* "Insurgents and Islam Now Rulers of Fallujah" • June 14: "At Least 20 Killed in Baghdad (Car) Bombings" • June 15: "Iraq's Foreign Contractors in...

Presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama’s campaign, in an internal memo, is disputing one Democratic congressman’s characterization of the Illinois senator’s record after the member went on the record Tuesday saying he would not endorse his party’s nominee. Rep. Dan Boren (D-Okla.) told The Associated Press that Obama is too liberal for his district, and he does not work well with Republicans despite his rhetoric. In the internal memo, which was obtained by The Hill, the campaign lays out surrogate talking points and says that “unfortunately, Congressman Boren has his facts wrong.” The document outlines a way for surrogates to refute...

Equinox gym, stockbroker sued for 'spin rage' A Manhattan hedge fund manager is suing Equinox health club and the stockbroker who slammed him off a stationary bike and into a wall for whooping it up during a spin class. Stuart Sugarman's lawsuit contends he was a victim of Christopher Carter's "spin rage" when he was tossed into a wall following an August 2007 confrontation at an upper East Side Equinox. A Manhattan jury last week acquitted Carter of assaulting Sugarman, who set off the stockbroker by grunting loudly and hollering "You go, girl!" to psyche himself up for the spin...

Who says there's no humor in politics? Obama communications director Robert Gibbs went on ABC's This Week today, and in one of the best bits of deadpan comedy seen since Buster Keaton, actually said that Barack Obama's decision to quit the Trinity United Church of Christ was "not political." GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: In Philadelphia, just in April, Senator Obama said of Reverend Wright "I can no more disown him than I can disown the black community." Now he's cut all ties to Reverend Wright, and left his church. What is it a mistake to wait this long? ROBERT GIBBS: No, George....

A source close to the Obama campaign tells The Brody File that Barack Obama and Michelle Obama approached Trinity United Church Pastor Otis Moss III a couple months ago to discuss whether Obama should remain with the church. This person tells me that Senator Obama asked pastor Moss how the controversy was affecting the church and the discussion focused in on what would be best for the church and best for Obama. The initial conversation took place after the Jeremiah Wright sermons became widespread public knowledge but before Jeremiah Wright's speech to the National Press Club. Reverend Moss knew about...

Senator Barack Obama, 46, was in “excellent health” at the time of his last examination more than a year ago and has no known medical problems that would affect his ability to serve as president, according to a letter by his physician released on Thursday. The undated letter was released less than a week after Senator John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee, released his medical records. blah, blah... The peskiest medical problem seems to be his multiple efforts to quit cigarette smoking, which he began at least two decades ago. Mr. Obama “has quit this practice on several...

Hillary Clinton appeared on The O'Reilly Factor last night, finally facing off with Bill O'Reilly in the No-Spin Zone. Judge Napolitano described it as the "toughest interview she's ever had." Hillary was pretty in pink with nary a crease in her smiling face. She was cool, calm and collected as she answered all the hard questions lobbed at her by tough interviewer Bill O'Reilly. Questions like, "Are you surprised Fox News has treated your campaign in a fair and balanced manner?" Hard one. Giggle, giggle. O'Reilly then moved on to the Rev. Wright/Obama situation. Hillary fielded this tough question by...

On Tuesday in Philadelphia, Barack Obama delivered the most articulate and profound speech on race in America since the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. proclaimed, "I have a dream," in 1963. It's too early to tell whether the speech will defuse the political firestorm that gave rise to it – the incendiary, anti-American remarks made by the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Obama's friend and spiritual adviser. No doubt Wright's comments will continue to be amplified and distorted by talk radio demagogues, by commentators and politicians, black and white, who have built entire careers exploiting and stoking the fires of racial division....

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - Democratic Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton suggested Monday she'll press on with the campaign after Tuesday's crucial primaries, arguing that momentum is on her side despite 11 straight losses to rival Sen. Barack Obama. "I'm just getting warmed up," Clinton told reporters, looking ahead to a busy day of campaign events in Ohio and Texas where polls show a close race ahead of Tuesday's primaries. Clinton's husband, former President Clinton, has asserted that his wife must win both Texas and Ohio to keep her campaign alive. On Friday, Hillary Clinton's advisers recast the stakes, saying if Obama...

We've been several years into a war in Iraq, and it has been front and center in American and world politics the whole time. It s hard to believe that the purpose and execution of the war could be so forgotten and replaced with political spin, when most voters were alive and watching the whole time. It's one thing to have differences of opinion on the Civil War, and on a war that we saw with our own eyes every night on the news. Bush 41 decided to invade Kuwait and Iraq to expel Saddam from Kuwait. We were successful...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Ten Air Force Reserve F-16 fighter jets were the cause of the lights seen over parts of central Texas earlier this month that many believed to be UFOs, according to an Air Force Reserve news release. The F-16s were on a nighttime training mission over the Brownwood Military Operating Area on January 8, near Stephenville, Texas, the statement said. A military operating area is airspace designated for military training, according to Air Force officials. Several people in the area saw lights moving fast across the night sky. The Air Force reported it had no aircraft flying that...

Friday, January 04, 2008 Hey! I'm A Candidate for Change, Too! [Byron York] Team Romney sent out an email this morning headlined "GOVERNOR ROMNEY ADVANCES HIS MESSAGE OF CHANGE IN WASHINGTON." It includes a quote from CBS this morning in which Romney, who has invested a lot of time defending George W. Bush, appeared to argue that while voters want change in Washington, they don't necessarily want it in the White House – but in any event, they want change, and he is the candidate of change: "Well, you know, I think the race in Iowa was really a very...

http://americanresearchgroup.com/ Republicans Nevada Giuliani 17% Huckabee 23% Hunter 4% Keyes - McCain 7% Paul 3% Romney 29% Tancredo 1% Thompson 5% Undecided 11%

Bill Clinton Takes on 9/11 Truthers at Hillary Fundraiser By Noel Sheppard | October 26, 2007 - 09:56 ET Following in Bill Maher's footsteps, former President Bill Clinton told off some 9/11 truthers that were heckling him during a 50-minute speech he was giving at a fundraiser for his wife in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Tuesday. Sadly, he didn't say anything about Rosie O'Donnell. However, as reported by the Minneapolis Star Tribune, what the former President did say -- as shouts came from the crowd about 9/11 being an inside job -- was rather delicious (video available here, emphasis added, h/t...