U.S. Seals Court Records Of Border Patrol’s Murder

And the duplicity continues....

The Obama Administration has abruptly sealed court records containing alarming details of how Mexican drug smugglers murdered a U.S. Border patrol agent with a gun connected to a failed federal experiment that allowed firearms to be smuggled into Mexico.

This means information will now be kept from the public as well as the media. Could this be a cover-up on the part of the “most transparent” administration in history? After all, the rifle used to kill the federal agent (Brian Terry) last December in Arizona’s Peck Canyon was part of the now infamous Operation Fast and Furious. Conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the disastrous scheme allowed guns to be smuggled into Mexico so they could eventually be traced to drug cartels.

Instead, federal law enforcement officers lost track of more than 1,000 guns which have been used in numerous crimes. In Terry’s case, five illegal immigrants armed with at least two semi-automatic assault rifles were hunting for U.S. Border Patrol agents near a desert watering hole just north of the Arizona-Mexico border when a firefight erupted and Terry got hit.

On Newt's 'humane' immigration policy

Thomas Sowell nails it yet again.

Now that Newt Gingrich has become the latest in a series of Republican front-runners, he is getting the kinds of scrutiny and attacks that have done in other front-runners.

One of the issues that has aroused concern among conservative Republicans is that of amnesty for illegal immigrants, especially after Gingrich said that it would not be "humane" to deport someone who has been living and working here for years.

Let's go back to square one. The purpose of American immigration laws and policies is not to be either humane or inhumane to illegal immigrants. The purpose of immigration laws and policies is to serve the national interest of this country.

There is no inherent right to come live in the United States, in disregard of whether the American people want you here. Nor does the passage of time confer any such right retroactively.

Rep. Barney Frank won't seek re-election

That is one disgusting individual that I hope we don't here from ever again unless it's a statement after his conviction for corruption.

Washington (CNN) -- Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank, a prominent 16-term liberal Democrat and arch-enemy of political conservatives nationwide, will announce Monday he does not intend to seek re-election in 2012, according to a statement from Frank's office.

Frank will hold a news conference in his district to discuss the decision at 1 p.m.

Sunday Funny

Thanks RR.

Iran Threatens To Hit Turkey If US, Israel Attack

Oh, that will deter the Israeli's. All kidding aside this threat was probably directed at Obama and knowing him it may work.

TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran will target NATO's missile defense installations in Turkey if the U.S. or Israel attacks the Islamic Republic, a senior commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guard said Saturday.

Gen. Amir Ali Hajizadeh, the head of the Guards' aerospace division, said the warning is part of a new defense strategy to counter what he described as an increase in threats from the U.S. and Israel.

Tensions have been rising between Iran and the West since the release of a report earlier this month by the International Atomic Energy Agency that said for the first time that Tehran was suspected of conducting secret experiments whose sole purpose was the development of nuclear arms.

Sandusky's Grandson Comes Forward With Allegations of Sexual Abuse

Geez, this just keeps getting worse and worse.

The allegations towards accused Penn State pedophile Jerry Sandusky continue with his grandson now coming forward with claims of sexual abuse.

A complaint was filed against the former assistant coach by the wife of one of his adopted sons, Matt Sandusky with Pennsylvania's Children's and Youth Services, his lawyer told ABC News.

“The allegations are ridiculous and unfounded. Jerry has absolutely denied any inappropriate contact with his grand kids.” Sandusky's attorney Joseph Amendola said.

Sandusky's daughter-in-law filed for a restraining order after his November 5 arrest to prevent her children from sleeping over.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sign of the Times

A west Georgia business owner’s sign.

Official Unofficial Thanksgiving Recipe Posting

Okay folks, the third year we have been doing this and it's time yet again. We're having a traditional dinner....a 18# Tom turkey deep fried in peanut oil, yams with brown sugar bacon drippings and multiple spices, green bean casserole, southern style mac and cheese, fresh frozen (Cherokee variety) sweet corn, reduced gravy from the drippings with Idaho Russet mashed potatoes, no dressing :(, wife hates "soggy bread"..

For the hardcore meat eaters ....4 racks of Pork Baby Back ribs cooked on the Bradley Smoker starting in about 2 hours.

Dessert: Pumpkin Divine....a combination of pumpkin pie and cake with a brown sugar and butter topping. This will give sex a run for the money.

Please, give up your best.

"Disastrous" bond sale shakes confidence in Germany

Like a row of Dominoes...

BERLIN (Reuters) - A "disastrous" German bond sale on Wednesday sparked fears that Europe's debt crisis was even beginning to threaten Berlin, with the leaders of the euro zone's two strongest economies still firmly at odds over a longer-term structural solution.

Financial markets were also unnerved by newspaper reports that Belgium may be pressing France for an expansion of a 90 billion euro ($120 billion) bailout of failed bank Dexia.

On top of this, a special report by Fitch Ratings suggested France had limited room left to absorb shocks to its finances like a new downturn in growth or support for banks without endangering its cherished AAA credit status.

After one of the least successful debt sales by Europe's powerhouse economy since the launch of the single currency, the euro fell and European shares sank to 7-week lows.

Futures Turn Lower After GDP Report

I'm shocked I tell you, shocked!

Futures edged lower Tuesday following a lower-than-expected GDP figure and following the previous session’s sharp sell off.

The U.S. economy grew at a slightly slower pace than previously estimated in the third quarter, but weak inventory accumulation amid sturdy consumer spending strengthened views output would pick up in the current quarter.

Gross domestic product grew at a 2.0 percent annual rate in the third quarter, the Commerce Department said in its second estimate on Tuesday, down from the previously estimated 2.5 percent.

The Puzzling Differences Between Michigan and Indiana in This Recession

Good article and accurate, read the whole thing.

This recession has been difficult throughout the Midwest. The nation’s two leading manufacturing states, Indiana and Michigan, have and still continue to feel the pain of this recession. Yet Michigan, which is less dependent on manufacturing, has had a much deeper and longer downturn than Indiana. This is a great puzzle. We have recently authored a study that attempts to frame the issues more clearly "The Puzzle of Indiana's Economy Through the Great Recession," for the Sagamore Institute.

In the wake of this recession the livelihoods and dreams of many in the Midwest have been impacted by high levels of joblessness and persistent unemployment. Unemployment peaked in Indiana at 10.8 percent, but rose to 14.9 percent in Michigan. Any economic model would predict either state would have had unemployment rates in the 13 to 15 percent range. Our study tries to explain this difference in outcomes between the two states. It is the puzzle that has a few answers.

First, it is pretty clear that the unemployment rate differences cannot be wholly explained by the structure of manufacturing. Indiana is more manufacturing intensive than Michigan, and the sharp drops in auto sales such as those seen in 2008 and 2009 are not correlated with increased volatility in Michigan’s unemployment rate. Of course, the auto industry matters. Indiana saw just one Big Three plant closing during the recession, while Michigan lost seven GM plants over the same time period. Indiana is also home to Honda, Toyota and Subaru plants. In 2010, Indiana was site of large announced investment by GM. Granted, the life cycle of a particular plant will effect closing and opening dates, so plant closings can be affected by such things as a discontinued product line or aging equipment. In the end, plant closings are heavily influenced by underlying economic factors, both local and national.

Sunday Funny

Thanks RR.

Kissinger Called Jews 'Self-Serving,' 'Bastards'

Considering they were fighting for their very existence, I'm inclined to cut them some slack. Unlike Obama, they wished to preserve that which they had.

Transcripts from 39years ago show that Henry Kissinger, a Jew who later served as U.S. Secretary of State Kissinger under President Richard Nixon, held anti-Jewish views. In 1972, then-Prime Minister Golda Meir asked Nixon to protest to the Kremlin over its levying of fees for exit permits for Jews who wish to emigrate.

The Associated Press quotes Kissinger as calling Jews "self serving" and using the word "bastards" in reference to them. At the time of the events, AP explains, the White House was "defending its strategy of quiet diplomacy" and sought to assure American Jews that Nixon was very concerned about the plight of Soviet Jews but that quiet diplomacy was the best approach.

A White House official, Leonard Garment asked Kissinger for help and guidance, saying he was flooded with letters and phone calls from concerned Jews. The late Alexander Haig, Nixon's national security adviser, had forwarded Meir's letter to him as well. Kissinger was Haig's deputy at the time. The transcripts show that Kissinger said to Garment: "Is there a more self-serving group of people than the Jewish community?"

Cain’s Knowledge-Deficit Disorder

I like Cain but I've seen too many "deer in the headlight moments". I'm afraid he's just not ready for primetime.

He is running for president knowing little about major matters of public import.

Poor Rick Perry. His “brain freeze” is indelible, otherwise it would forever be eclipsed by Herman Cain’s more cringe-inducing meanderings on Libya.

At a meeting with the editors of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Cain was asked whether he agreed with Pres. Barack Obama’s handling of Libya. You would think he had been asked who is the president of Ubeki-beki-beki-beki-stan-stan, Cain’s joshing description of a prototypical gotcha foreign-policy question. What ensued was the longest five minutes of an editorial-board meeting ever.

Cain paused. Then he asked for a lifeline by trying to confirm with his questioner that President Obama supported the Libyan uprising. He started to say why he disagreed with Obama, but stopped after realizing, “No, that’s a different one.” He hesitated again. “Got all this stuff twirling around in my head,” he explained.

Pic of the Day

Twomen going to work at the OWS protests in Manhattan.

Quote of the Day

John Adams: Property is surely a right of mankind as really as liberty. Perhaps, at first, prejudice, habit, shame or fear, principle or religion, would restrain the poor from attacking the rich, and the idle from usurping on the industrious; but the time would not be long before courage and enterprise would come, and pretexts be invented by degrees, to countenance the majority in dividing all the property among them, or at least, in sharing it equally with its present possessors. Debts would be abolished first; taxes laid heavy on the rich, and not at all on the others; and at last a downright equal division of every thing be demanded, and voted. What would be the consequence of this? The idle, the vicious, the intemperate, would rush into the utmost extravagance of debauchery, sell and spend all their share, and then demand a new division of those who purchased from them. The moment the idea is admitted into society, that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. If “Thou shalt not covet,” and “Thou shalt not steal,” were not commandments of Heaven, they must be made inviolable precepts in every society, before it can be civilized or made free

The 53%ers

Another ObamaCare Glitch

The longer Obama is in office the more "Putinesque he is becoming.

Even if ObamaCare survives Supreme Court scrutiny next spring, its trials will be far from over. That's because the law has a major glitch that threatens its basic functioning. It's so problematic, in fact, that the Obama administration is now brazenly trying to rewrite the law without involving Congress.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act offers "premium assistance"—tax credits and subsidies—to households purchasing coverage through new health-insurance exchanges. This assistance was designed to hide a portion of the law's cost to individuals by reducing the premium hikes that individuals will face after ObamaCare goes into effect in 2014. (If consumers face the law's full cost, support for repeal will grow.)

The law encourages states to create health-insurance exchanges, but it permits Washington to create them if states decline. So far, only 17 states have passed legislation to create an exchange.

This is where the glitch comes in: ObamaCare authorizes premium assistance in state-run exchanges (Section 1311) but not federal ones (Section 1321). In other words, states that refuse to create an exchange can block much of ObamaCare's spending and practically force Congress to reopen the law for revisions.

GOP’s Boehner embraces tax-raising plan

Republicans raise taxes....lose elections, it's that simple.

House Speaker John A. Boehner publicly blessed a Republican deficit-reduction plan Tuesday that would raise $300 billion in additional tax revenue while overhauling the IRS code.

In doing so, he bucked opposition by some GOP presidential hopefuls and colleagues wary of violating a longstanding point of party orthodoxy.

Mr. Boehner, the top Republican in Congress, spoke as time grew perilously short for agreement by the deficit-fighting supercommittee. The panel has until a week from Wednesday to vote on any compromise, but several officials said that, in reality, perhaps as little as 48 or 72 hours are available to the six Republicans and six Democrats.

While Mr. Boehner’s voice is important, his endorsement does not mean all Republicans will follow him or that a deal is in sight. Republicans have been unified for two decades in opposition to higher taxes, while Democrats on the supercommittee insist on additional revenue before they will agree to cuts in benefit programs like Medicare as part of a compromise.

2013 Ford Mustang gallops up to 200 mph (650hp)

Yet another argument for the contention that we’re living in a golden era for American muscle cars arrives with the 2013 Ford Mustang, which will sport a brace of tech and styling updates across its line — including the most powerful V8 engine sold by any automaker in the world. How much trouble could you get in with a 200-mph ‘Stang?

The original pony car has survived 46 years only through annual tweaking between major redesigns, and offering a broad enough model range to lure in everyone from high-schoolers to professional drag racers. Thanks to the competition with the revived Chevrolet Camaro, there’s more muscle in muscle cars than ever before; today’s base V6 Mustang has more grunt than the V8 flashed seven years ago.

DANG!

Gingrich Leads in PPP Poll, Followed by Cain

It's a PPP poll so be wary, interesting nonetheless.

Results from new poll of GOP primary voters from Democratic firm Public Policy Polling: Newt Gingrich (28 percent), Herman Cain (25 percent), Mitt Romney (18 percent), Rick Perry (6 percent), Michele Bachmann and Ron Paul (5 percent), Jon Huntsman (3 percent), Rick Santorum and Gary Johnson (1 percent).

One particularly interesting note from PPP: “There’s reason to think that if Cain continues to fade, Gingrich will continue to gain. Among Cain’s supporters 73 percent have a favorable opinion of Gingrich to only 21 percent with a negative one.”

Supreme Court will hear legal fight over health care overhaul

Let the games begin!

Setting the stage for a historic constitutional confrontation over federal power, the Supreme Court on Monday granted three separate cases on the constitutionality of the new federal health care law, and set aside 5 1/2 hours — probably in March — for oral argument. The Court, however, did not grant all of the issues raised and it chose issues to review only from three of the five separate appeals before it. It is unclear, at this point, whether all cases will be heard on a single day.

Sunday Funny

Thanks RR.

Led Zeppelin’s Stairway To Heaven Turns 40 Years Old

Dang, talk about feeling old.

Forty years ago an incredible classic rock band hit their creative peak when they released Led Zeppelin lV. I remember at age fourteen being handed this record for the first time, and being awe struck by stunning song-craftsmanship and lyrical prowess. The album itself which was released November 8th 1971 was a major success and sold 23 million copies alone in the United States, but only peaked at number 2 on the charts.

Many Zeppelin Fans know this album as the one that contains Stairway to Heaven, but among rock critics and fanatics of Zeppelin the whole album is a masterpiece. Led Zeppelin was never known for creating phenomenal singles, but created a name for themselves as a record band. They saw that every song recorded for the album should be done masterfully, and should compliment other tracks on the album. It’s not easy to convince the novice Zeppelin fan that Stairway to Heaven is not the best song on Led Zeppelin lV, but give them a few years and they will be hailing Zeppelin IV for songs such as “Black Dog,” “Rock and Roll,” and “When The Levee breaks.” This album is a must for an classic rock enthusiast, and should be apart of any album collection.

Employer-based health Insurance Continuues to Trend Down

Go figure.

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The percentage of American adults who get their health insurance from an employer continues to decline, falling to 44.5% in the third quarter of this year. This percentage has been steadily declining since Gallup and Healthways started tracking Americans' health insurance sources in 2008.

Fifty Percent Welfare Nation

Shocking and totally unsustainable.

It has become all too easy today to receive government assistance. Half of all babies born in the U.S. today receive food assistance, and half of all children live in a home that will use food assistance at some point during their childhood. 40 percent of the population in Washington, D.C. is on welfare. Between 2000 and 2010 the number of Americans receiving food assistance more than doubled, expanding to over 47 million, which is more than one-seventh of the population. Forty years ago, only 4.3 million Americans received food assistance. According to a Heritage Foundation study, means-tested welfare has grown faster than every other part of government during the past two decades, including Social Security, Medicare, education and defense.

Foreclosures regaining momentum, hit 7-month high

Always a very telling statistic and very bad news.

The U.S. foreclosure rate has climbed to its highest level in seven months, suggesting that lenders are moving beyond a "robo-signing" scandal that had temporarily slowed bank takeovers, according to a private firm that tracks the activity.

Foreclosure filings — including default notices, scheduled auctions, and bank repossessions — were issued on 230,678 homes in October, up 7 percent from September but 31 percent below the level of October 2010, according to the report issued by RealtyTrac Thursday.

And then there's this: Median home prices fall for 3Q in most US cities.

Former Ariz. US Attorney admits leaking memo smearing Fast and Furious whistle-blower

Former Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke, who resigned in August, admitted late Tuesday that he leaked a document aimed at smearing Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives agent John Dodson, an Operation Fast and Furious whistle-blower.

“Dennis regrets his role in disclosing the memo but he’s a stand-up guy and is willing to take responsibility for what he did,” Chuck Rosenberg, Burke’s lawyer, said according to NPR. “It was absolutely not Dennis’s intent to retaliate against Special Agent Dodson or anyone else for the information they provided Congress.”

Rosenberg claims Burke is cooperating with congressional investigators.

"Stand up guys" don't leak lies for illegitimate partisan purposes.

Witness: Cain accuser hugged him during Tea Party meeting a month ago

From The Chicago Sun Times:

The Cain Encounter ...

They hugged each other backstage in a full embrace like old friends.

She grabbed his arm and whispered in his left ear.

She kept talking as he bent to listen, and he kept saying “Uh, huh. Uh, huh.”

Huh?

“I don’t know if what she was giving him was a sucker punch, but he didn’t put his arm down while she was talking to him,” said the Sneed source.

◆The “he”... is GOP presidential contender Herman Cain, who has been accused of sexual harassment by several women.

◆The “she”... is Chicagoan Sharon Bialek, who held a news conference Tuesday as the only woman to PUBLICLY accuse Cain of sexual harassment.

Hmmmmm, something is not adding up.

New Woman Accusing Herman Cain Of Sexual Harassment Hires Gloria Allred

Much more of this and it's going to start to stick.

A new woman alleging sexual harassment by presidential hopeful Herman Cain will break her silence at a news conference with her powerhouse attorney Gloria Allred Monday afternoon in New York City, RadarOnline.com is exclusively reporting.

The embattled GOP nominee has admitted that several women who worked at the National Restaurant Association during his tenure as president of the organization received settlements. Politico has reported that the settlements were given because of sexual harassment allegations.

The woman, who will be the first to go public on Monday, sought Cain's help with an employment issue and was allegedly sexually harassed by him. Allred and her client will discuss, in detail, what she alleges occurred with Cain.

Greek PM expected to resign after coalition government formed

Simply kicking the can down the road, it solves precisely nothing.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will resign after the makeup of the nation's new coalition government is decided, officials said Sunday.

Sunday's Cabinet meeting will be the last with Papandreou as prime minister, a government spokesman said in a statement. The meeting will focus on issues relating to Monday's Euro group meeting, at which Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos will represent Greece, the statement said.

A spokesman for Papandreou's Socialist PASOK party said the prime minister will resign after the government is announced.

Solyndra Execs Reaped Bonuses Before Bankruptcy, Documents Show

Where's OWS?

Solyndra executives were awarded quarterly bonuses worth up to $60,000 apiece earlier this year as the California solar-panel company headed for bankruptcy, court documents show.

Documents filed by the company in U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware show the well-paid executives at the firm were given bonuses in April and in July, just months before the company filed for bankruptcy in September and laid off 1,100 workers.

The details add to the narrative of what was happening behind the scenes in the year leading up to the company's financial collapse, though congressional Republicans investigating the matter are looking for more details. After the Obama administration turned over 20,000 pages of documents earlier this week pertaining to Solyndra, House Republicans on Thursday night served the White House and vice president's office with a subpoena for more Solyndra documents.

Vatican stunned by Irish embassy closure

The Vatican has only itself to blame.

(Reuters) - Catholic Ireland's stunning decision to close its embassy to the Vatican is a huge blow to the Holy See's prestige and may be followed by other countries which feel the missions are too expensive, diplomatic sources said on Friday.

The closure brought relations between Ireland and the Vatican, once ironclad allies, to an all-time low following the row earlier this year over the Irish Church's handling of sex abuse cases and accusations that the Vatican had encouraged secrecy.

Ireland will now be the only major country of ancient Catholic tradition without an embassy in the Vatican.

Fed slashes growth, employment projections

This should come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who's been paying attention.

In an announcement that is likely to deepen concerns over the U.S. economic woes the Federal Reserve has slashed growth and employment projections for 2011 and 2012.

Data projections released by the Fed suggested that it had revised a measure of the average, or “central tendency,” for the U.S. economy's 2011 gross domestic product growth rate from the 2.7-2.9 per cent range to the 1.6-1.7 per cent range. Similarly, the central bank cut its 2012 projection for growth from the 3.3-3.7 per cent range to the 2.5-2.9 per cent range.

Unemployment which in June the Fed projected would hover between 8.6 per cent and 8.9per cent during 2011 was revised and projected to remain between 9 per cent and 9.1 per cent for the rest of the calendar year.

For 2012, the average unemployment rate was similarly revised upward from the 7.8-8.2per cent range to the 8.5-8.7 per cent range.

Syrian tanks open fire despite Arab League deal

Syria reneging on a deal, say it ain't so.

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian activists say tanks mounted with machine-guns have fired on a city at the heart of the country's uprising.

The violence comes one day after Damascus agreed to an Arab League plan calling on the government to pull the military out of cities in hopes of easing the regime's 7-month-old crackdown on protesters that has killed thousands.

Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the Baba Amr district of Homs came under heavy fire Thursday. He cited witnesses in Homs.

Holder sues South Carolina over immigration reform

SCOTUS here we come.The Obama administration has boosted its efforts to bar state-level enforcement of the nation’s immigration laws by suing South Carolina over its new immigration reform law.

The Monday announcement by the Department of Justice follows the news that the Department of Homeland Security has quietly canceled long-standing checks of transportation hubs for illegal immigrants.

Administration officials defended the controversial lawsuit Monday, despite the nation’s unemployment rate of at least 9 percent.

“Today’s lawsuit makes clear once again that the Justice Department will not hesitate to challenge a state’s immigration law, as we have in Arizona, Alabama and South Carolina, if we find that the law interferes with the federal government’s enforcement of immigration,” read a statement from embattled Attorney General Eric Holder.