PUBLIC CORRUPTION AT ITS BEST

Roger is ill today so enjoy a blog from our pals at Thinkprogress.

To many Americans, Washington is fundamentally broken. While corporations enjoy record profits and executives reward themselves with million-dollar bonuses, lobbyists have gamed the system so corporate behemoths like ExxonMobil and GE pay zero corporate income taxes. During the economic crisis, with high unemployment and stagnant wages, middle class Americans seem to be bearing the sacrifices. Riding a wave of this popular discontent, Republicans won a historical congressional election this year by channeling anger against “Beltway insiders” and Washington corruption.

Perhaps to the surprise of many Tea Party populists who helped elect them, the Washington Post reports, “Many incoming GOP lawmakers have hired registered lobbyists as senior aides. Several of the candidates won with strong support from the anti-establishment tea party movement.” These lobbyists are not public servants. They are experts at carving out special deals and tax giveaways to powerful corporations:

– Rep.-elect Marlin Stutzman (R-IN) selected lobbyist Tim Harris as his chief of staff. Harris works as lobbyist for a trade association representing the shareholders of energy companies like American Electric Power, Duke Energy, NiSource, Vectren.

– Rep.-elect Mike Pompeo (R-KS) selected Mark Chenowerth as his chief of staff. Chenowerth previously worked as a lawyer on the lobbying team for Koch Industries, the conglomerate owned by Charles and David Koch. As ThinkProgress reported early this year, Pompeo was groomed for office by Koch Industries-run front groups, and has served as an executive for Koch Industries oil company subsidiaries.

– Rep.-elect Robert Dold (R-IL) selected corporate lobbyist Eric Burgeson as his chief of staff. Burgeson works for the lobbying firm BGR Holdings serving business clients in China, the coal industry, and a nuclear company.

– Rep.-elect Chip Cravaack (R-MN) selected corporate lobbyist Rod Grams as his chief of staff. Grams works for a lobbying firm called Hecht, Spencer, and Associates where he represents 3M, Norfolk Southern and the Financial Services Roundtable, the trade association for the country’s largest banks.

– Rep.-elect Krisi Noem (R-SD) selected Jordon Stoick as her chief of staff. Stoick is a vice president at the lobbying firm Direct Impact. Direct Impact also specializes in building public support for corporate causes, boasting on its website that it once generated hundreds of letters to the FCC on behalf of the telecom industry.

– Rep.-elect Jeff Denham (R-CA) selected corporate lobbyist Jason Larrabee as his chief of staff. Larrabee is the founder of his own lobbying firm.

– Sen.-elect Pat Toomey (R-PA) selected former corporate lobbyist Chris Gahan as his chief of staff. Gaham previously worked at the lobbying firm Latham and Watkins.

– Rep.-elect Steve Pearce (R-NM) selected Todd Willens as his chief of staff. Willens is a lobbyist at Vitello Consulting, a firm that represents a number of interests, including a casino.

– Sen.-elect Charlie Bass (R-NH) selected lobbyist John Billings as his chief of staff. Billings is a lobbyist for a food marketing and whole sale trade association.

– Rep.-elect Chris Gibson (R-NY) selected Steve Stallmer as his chief of staff. Stallmer is a lobbyist for the Associated General Contractors of New York State.

– Sen.-elect Ron Johnson (R-WI) selected Don Kent as his chief of staff. Kent is a lobbyist for the firm Navigators Global. Navigators Global represents AT&T, CitiGroup, and other major corporations.

– Sen.-elect Mike Lee (R-UT) selected lobbyist Spencer Strokes as his chief of staff. Lee is one of the most prominent corporate lobbyists in Utah, representing clients from the private prison industry to the nuclear industry.

– Sen.-elect Rand Paul (R-KY) selected anti-union lobbyist Douglas Stafford for his chief of staff. Stafford is the vice president of the National Right to Work Committee.

These Republican lawmakers, many of whom cast themselves as insurgents, are linking their professional decisions into the corporate establishment of influence peddling. Congressional chiefs of staff are often in charge of helping members make pivotal decisions, like which positions to take on public debates, how to vote on pieces of legislation, and of course, how to use your votes to raise money for your re-election.

As the Washington Post reported last weekend, freshmen “Tea Party” Republicans have already ingratiated themselves into the cocktail culture of K Street. Dozens of freshmen Republicans have crowded into near-daily fundraisers, parties, and high-priced dinners hosted by corporate lobbyists. Already undercutting a promise to wean themselves off earmark giveaways to corporate interests, the new Republican Chairman of the Appropriations Committee is leaning towards hiring a defense industry lobbyist as the committee chief of staff

"OPERATION PAYBACK"

Today America and the world are engage in a war which is in unprecedented territory, that of which is in uncharted waters . While we have had a few "political" Internet wars which normally represent a bar fight which has been taken to the streets.

Politically motivated attacks reach back at least as far as 2001, when a U.S. Navy plane landed on Hainan Island in China. A Chinese hacking group named "Honker Union" attacked U.S. websites in the days that followed.

These the tit for tat attacks against Wikileaks and those whom support Assange have a colossal chance to bring this street brawl to a planetary viral cyber war,should things continue to escalate.

Today while the 'court jester' (Julian Assange) stayed in jail, his followers and fellow hackers rushed to his defense and attacked feverishly in the cyber world. Undoubtedly Assange had a detailed premeditated process for what to do in his absence or of his demise.

Internet "hacktivists" operating under the label "Operation Payback" claimed responsibility in a Twitter message for causing severe technological problems at the website for MasterCard, Visa, and a Swiss bank which pulled the plug on its relationship with WikiLeaks a day ago.



Per Hellqvist, a security specialist with the firm Symantec, said a network of web activists called Anonymous — to which Operation Payback is affiliated — appeared to be behind many of the attacks. The group, which has previously focused on the Church of Scientology and the music industry, is knocking offline websites seen as hostile to Assange and WikiLeaks.

Operation Payback said today "While we don't have much of an affiliation with WikiLeaks, we fight for the same reasons," the group said in a statement. "We want transparency and we counter censorship ... we intend to utilize our resources to raise awareness, attack those against and support those who are helping lead our world to freedom and democracy."

Julian Assanges' hacking career goes deep as in 1987, after turning 16, Assange began hacking under the name "Mendax" (derived from a phrase of Horace: "splendide mendax," or "nobly untruthful"). He and two other hackers joined to form a group which they named the International Subversives. Assange wrote down the early rules of the subculture: "Don’t damage computer systems you break into (including crashing them); don’t change the information in those systems (except for altering logs to cover your tracks); and share information".

In response to the hacking, the Australian Federal Police raided his Melbourne home in 1991. He was reported to have accessed computers belonging to an Australian university, the Canadian telecommunications company Nortel, and other organizations, via modem. In 1992, he pleaded guilty to 24 charges of hacking and was released on bond for good conduct after being fined AU$2100. The prosecutor said "there is just no evidence that there was anything other than sort of intelligent inquisitiveness and the pleasure of being able to—what's the expression—surf through these various computers".

Assange later commented, "It's a bit annoying, actually. Because I co-wrote a book about [being a hacker], there are documentaries about that, people talk about that a lot. They can cut and paste. But that was 20 years ago. It's very annoying to see modern day articles calling me a computer hacker. I'm not ashamed of it, I'm quite proud of it. But I understand the reason they suggest I'm a computer hacker now. There's a very specific reason."

The attacks are being conducted with a tool called "LOIC." Which allows a volunteer to simply enter the name of a website to join an attack. The volunteer’s Internet connection is then routed through a "command and control" server, which amplifies the number of requests being sent to the target website from that volunteer's computer, eventually overwhelming the Web server.

LOIC (Low Orbit Ion Cannon) is a network stress testing application, written in C# and developed by "praetox". It attempts a denial-of-service attack on the target site by flooding the server with TCP packets, UDP packets, or HTTP requests with the intention of disrupting the service of a particular host.

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NFTOS Editor in Chief Roger West who is CISSP {Certified Information System Security Professional} certified, estimates that it took about 5,000 volunteers to topple MasterCard today.

The pro-WikiLeaks vengeance campaign on Wednesday appeared to be taking the form of the destructive cyber war tool for hackers titled "denial-of-service attack"

DoS attack or distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS attack) which is an attempt to make a computer resource unavailable to its intended users. Although the means to carry out, motives for, and targets of a DoS attack may vary, it generally consists of the concerted efforts of a person or people to prevent an Internet site or service from functioning efficiently or at all, temporarily or indefinitely. Perpetrators of DoS attacks typically target sites or services hosted on high-profile web servers such as banks, credit card payment gateways, and even root nameservers. The term is generally used with regards to computer networks, but is not limited to this field.

which are considered violations of the IAB's Internet proper use policy, and also violate the acceptable use policies of virtually all Internet service providers. They also commonly constitute violations of the laws of individual nations. Often DoS attacks computers that are harnessed — sometimes surreptitiously — to jam target sites with mountains of requests for data, knocking them out of commission.

It should be know surprise that the cyber attack community is siding with Assange. Surely the "Operation Payback" clan has several copies of Assanges" book on their shelves. “Underground: Tales of Hacking.” Assange is no dummy when it comes to computers and programming as in

1993, Assange was involved in starting one of the first public internet service providers in Australia, Suburbia Public Access Network. Starting in 1994, Assange lived in Melbourne as a programmer and a developer of free software. In 1995, Assange wrote Strobe, the first free and open source port scanner. He contributed several patches to the PostgreSQL project in 1996. Starting around 1997, he co-invented the Rubberhose deniable encryption system, a cryptographic concept made into a software package for Linux designed to provide plausible deniability against rubber-hose cryptanalysis; he originally intended the system to be used "as a tool for human rights workers who needed to protect sensitive data in the field." Other free software that he has authored or co-authored includes the Usenet caching software NNTP Cache and Surfraw, a command-line interface for web-based search engines.

Futurist have worried for years about the coming era of cyber wars. The future has now arrived. Former counter-terrorism czar Richard Clarke has written a recent book on the topic, warning of the prospect of a "cyber Pearl Harbor." The future of cyber war is likely to be as asymmetric as the future of conventional war.

This all out cyber war runs deep with emotions, and runs the full gambit of US and international law. Assange and fellow hackers have surrendered their moral high ground a long time ago. Twitter, Facebook, Sarah Palin, and PayPal are said to be next on the hit list of cyber ground attacks.

Cablegate and Assange are devolving into a "Wiki-War". The WikiLeaks - Wikiwar drama is indeed a cyber war. The cyber arms war race underway now is almost irreversible, and maybe Nations and organizations need to create "cyber war treaties". With Assange in jail, the cyber world can only expect these attacks to escalate. As online attacks become more frequent, the price of cyber security will continue to rise in the cat and mouse game hackers continue to play with each other.

Wiki War is a true and pure indication of how technology will play an increasingly central role in future conflicts.

NFTOS expects a laundry list of targets. "They'll research security vulnerabilities on a website. They've defaced websites in the past so we expect to see all sorts of things coming in the future."



Footnote: U.S. agencies have warned some employees that reading the classified State Department documents released by WikiLeaks puts them at risk of losing their jobs. U.S. colleges warn students to not comment on, post links to WikiLeaks on social media sites saying that statements may affect chances of getting security clearance for government jobs.



NFTOS

Had Enough Tea Yet?

The Tea Party, a loosely organized but still scabby collection of pasty lower middle class white people with a penchant toward material excess (without the material attributes). Their intelligence quota stems from incessant and relentless 60 second TV sound bytes primarily emanating from an ideologically driven, half witted pundits exclusively airing on Faux News.

They advertise a strict constitutional interpretation of laws except where:
they don’t like it or
they find it deplorable or
their lack of education hinders them from interpreting anything

Their political ideology adamantly refutes “liberalism” as a divisive, take what you need and leave the rest ideology. Right wing extremisms moral fiber should be a survival of the economically fittest, Wall Street tested, limited government, puritanically religious, big fish eat little fish cesspool of a society that simmers daily on a potpourri of the relatively few haves and the predominate majority of have not's.


Promotion of Christian values plays well with this crowd. God never ordained this country to be anything but freedom loving, tolerant and prayerful. In practice however, Tea Partiers embrace dogma, intolerance and a version of truth not especially warmed by any available facts. There is no room for democracy in Christianity and, by the Founders’ wishes and careful tradition, little, if any, Christian screed should exist in our democracy. Jesus, according to Biblical reports, never sanctioned second amendment rights and wasn’t especially fond of radical racial extremists.

Since a plethora of these self espoused political bigots are often uneducated, low income information voters dependent on their Medicare, social security payments, their hypocrisy, political narcissism, and philosophical inversions reach only those who possess anti-eclectic thought processes, sporadic and inconclusive educations, and an intrepid desire to screw anyone who has failed to aspire to the success implicit in the ideology of the axis of idiots.

The lessons here are invaluable. If Democrats ( liberals, progressives and socially conscious individuals) are not willing to fight for the society they want, they had better learn too like the society they get. This will consist of an ingrained aristocracy, and a protector of an apoplectic dogma, a legal miasma that poisons everyone it touches and a system of government that casts its fate, finally and forever, to a ruling class not far removed from the concepts of Aleister Crowley and Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn.

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I do believe that if BROCK had gone the distance with this “chicken crap” fight that the Republican know nothings would have fell limp. Progressives tend to be fairly flaccid overall, and Mr. President you now have our attention.

With America and the world focused on Wikileaks and its "cablegate" chronicle, Americans lost sight that our President caved in and appeased the right by "compromising" on the Bush tax cuts. Something clearly that he was opposed too while running for office.

Tea parties have derailed Obama's plan for policy, especially when it comes to lining the pockets of the rich. Obama for his capitulation receives 13 months of extended unemployment. The rich keep the money, the poor spend it. If you want to infuse the economy Mr. President, one has to understand how to inculcate money to the recession for it to recover.

Tan man Boehner stated prior to the midterms that he would vote for tax for the middle class only "if he had too". Displaying your anger at your news conference today towards those whom voted in you was, and is, blasphemy at its best.

We at NFTOS are not disloyal to you Mr. President, but we are bound to principle, and we are in self defense mode. If you can't stand up for the democrats, then whom can? Stand for what's right sir! Your hast to tamp down this error is "baseless" sir, and we expect better from you! Stand for the convictions that you ran on, direct your ire to those whom would rather see you as "a one term President".

How pure are your intentions, what is your measure to be a Democrat? This lapse of focus for staying the coarse is a barometer for which the tea bags will expose you too time and time again.

Let me be clear Mr. President, your actions today certainly points to you handing the Republicans the keys back to the car. This template for this new Obama run administration is not the direction we voted for in 2008.

Your political career is a stake here, and we progressives have had enough rancid TEA!


NFTOS

A True American Woman

She endured humiliation beyond comprehension by her husband, all the while fighting a gallant fight against breast cancer, yet she stood by the man whom betrayed her in the most vile and despicable way. She lost a son when he was sixteen years old to an automobile accident. This woman's personal strength and tenacity were repeatedly tested by crushing disappointments and unmet expectations. Her demonstrations of strength and will, though a model for tolerance and a resilient spirit, were also a study in questionable choices. At a time when she might have been restoring her strength to fight the deadly disease, instead this woman wrote a detailed memoir that doubled as a platform to excoriate her husband's mistress.

Elizabeth Edwards, the estranged wife of two time U.S. presidential candidate John Edwards, is reported to have lost her battle with breast cancer, which was diagnosed during the 2004 presidential election campaign. Doctors have told Edwards that her cancer has metastasized to her liver. This death sentence surely hits her family and supporters very hard. Fighting cancer is tough enough, but to have deal with a loathsome, ignominious husband along with the disease, it's certainly more than one should or could have to endure.



Edwards, 61, said in a Facebook posting on Monday; "I have been sustained throughout my life by three saving graces, my family, my friends, and a faith in the power of resilience and hope."

"These graces have carried me through difficult times and they have brought more joy to the good times than I ever could have imagined. The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered. We know that," the posting said.

Elizabeth Anania Edwards (born Mary Elizabeth Anania on July 3, 1949, in Jacksonville, Florida), is an attorney and best-selling author.

Elizabeth Edwards was more than a political spouse. She was chief adviser and strategist to her husband's campaigns for the Senate and later for the presidency. After retreating from public life as their marriage crumbled, she emerged to advocate for changes in the country's health care system while grappling with her own disease.

This woman certainly did not deserve the cards she was dealt, but she played them brilliantly, and will leave terra firma with her head held high, and dignity in hand. Most women of America could use Elizabeth Edwards as a role model.

We at NFTOS Salute Elizabeth Edwards!

Footnote: Sen. John Edwards has shown himself to be the lowest form of human that God could create. Edwards trouble did not end with the affair and illegitimate child as in May 2009, newspapers reported that Edwards' campaign was being investigated for conversion of campaign money to personal usage related to the affair. Edwards said that the campaign was complying with the inquiry. The relevant US attorney refused to comment. In the same month, George Stephanopoulos of ABC News reported that members of Edwards' staff had told him that they had planned a "doomsday strategy" to derail Edwards' campaign if he got close to the nomination. Joe Trippi, a senior advisor to the campaign, said the report was "complete bullshit". In August 2009, Rielle Hunter appeared before the grand jury investigating this matter. On March 15, 2010, Rielle broke her silence during an interview with GQ magazine and provided new details about the affair.


NFTOS

Bush Officials Celebrate Tax Cut ‘Trap’ They Laid Nine Years Ago

*BLOG BROUGHT TO YOU IN WHOLE BY THINKPROGRESS*



As debate rages in Washington over the Bush tax cuts, set to expire at the end of this year, the Bush administration officials who initiated the steep tax cuts are celebrating what they see as an apparent victory, since signs point to a temporary extension of all the cuts. The Daily Beast’s Howard Kurtz interviewed Dan Bartlett, Bush’s former communications director, and Andy Card, Bush’s former chief of staff, among others, and they were pleased at how the expiration debate has played out:

“We knew that, politically, once you get it into law, it becomes almost impossible to remove it,” says Dan Bartlett, Bush’s former communications director. “That’s not a bad legacy. The fact that we were able to lay the trap does feel pretty good, to tell you the truth.”

“[Democrats] are definitely on the defensive,” Card says. “The fact that the 10-year clock ran out now had a big impact on the election.”

As Media Matters notes, former Bush senior adviser Karl Rove went on Fox News this week and further laid the proverbial trap, saying “without a hint of self-awareness” that “we’ve known this was going to be happening for a decade,” while lamenting the Democrats’ inaction.

When the tax cuts were enacted, with an expiration date, Republicans and Bush officials understood the political advantages of the “fiscal time bomb” they were setting. As Kurtz puts it: “At some point in the way distant future, Democrats could be accused of raising taxes if they tried to undo the Bush breaks and return to Clinton-era levels of taxation.” Democrats understood this, too: Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) told the Washington Post at the time that “[Bush is] going to be out of office when the roof falls in.”

There was a more sinister motive for sun setting the tax cuts beyond politics, as well. It allowed the administration to pass the bill with a lower vote count in the Senate than would otherwise be necessary. Card freely admits to Kurtz that the administration wanted “the law to be permanent but couldn’t muster the votes to trump the Byrd Rule,” which would have required a 60-vote margin for a measure that significantly increases the federal deficit more than 10 years in the future. By setting the tax cuts to expire just short of ten years, the measure passed with 58 votes.

The various sunsets also hid the true cost of the bill. As Paul Krugman wrote at the time: “The administration, knowing that its tax cut wouldn’t fit into any responsible budget, pushed through a bill that contains the things it wanted most — big tax cuts for the very, very rich — and used whatever accounting gimmicks it could find to make the overall budget impact seem smaller than it is.”

Such deception and fiscal irresponsibility hardly seem cause for celebration. But because it appears that all of the tax cuts will once again be extended, resetting the fiscal time bomb in spite of public opposition, perhaps these Bush officials are justified in their mirth.


NFTOS

Dick Cheney To Get What's Due Him

Nigerian authorities today said they will charge former Dick Cheney over a bribery scandal that is alleged to involve Halliburton, Business Week reports. An arrest warrant "will be issued and transmitted through Interpol," said Godwin Obla, the prosecuting counsel at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria.

The charges center on an alleged $180 million bribery payment used to secure a $6 billion liquefied natural gas contract. Prosecutors are also looking into international companies Saipem and Technip. Cheney was the CEO of Halliburton from 1995 to 2000, before becoming George W. Bush's running mate. "As the CEO of Halliburton, he has the responsibility for acts that occurred during that period," Obla told the AFP.

Nigeria arrested 12 employees of Halliburton earlier in the week, reports Reuters. The firm's offices in Nigeria were raided by anti-corruption police, although the company said that the detentions "had no legal basis and that its employees had since been freed."

Nigeria's Guardian newspaper reported that charges against Cheney were confirmed by the government and included "criminal conspiracy. The prosecutor on the case said joint charges would be filed against Cheney along with the former and current leadership of Halliburton and others. "As the CEO of Halliburton, he has the responsibility for acts that occurred during that period," Obla told AFP.

Dick Cheney's Halliburton organisation consistently ranks high the United States as one of the countries most corrupt.

Halliburton (NYSE: HAL) is the world's second largest oilfield services corporation with operations in more than 70 countries. It has hundreds of subsidiaries, affiliates, branches, brands and divisions worldwide and employs over 50,000 people.

Halliburton's major business segment is the Energy Services Group (ESG). ESG provides technical products and services for petroleum and natural gas exploration and production. Halliburton's former subsidiary, KBR, is a major construction company of refineries, oil fields, pipelines, and chemical plants. Halliburton announced on April 5, 2007 that it had finally broken ties with KBR, which had been its contracting, engineering and construction unit as a part of the company for 44 years.

Halliburton has become the object of several controversies involving the 2003 Iraq War and the company's ties to Former U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney. Cheney retired from the company during the 2000 U.S. presidential election campaign with a severance package worth $36 million. The latest of troubles for Halliburton was the "Deepwater Horizon" Gulf oil spill, which was the U.S. biggest on record.

A gaunt looking Cheney (due too serious heart issues) does not look like he could sustain much of a court fight.



Interpol (International Criminal Police Organization) has been quit busy in recent days issuing warrants, as earlier this week they initiated one for Wikileaks founder Julian Assange whom is dumping hundreds of thousands of secret documents gained from the bitter homosexual Bradley Manning.

A Cheney spokesperson told Reuters he had no comment, but would later today. It is important to note that the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — of which Halliburton is a member — recently lobbied to weaken an important U.S. law that “stops American-based multinational firms from bribing foreign governments in order to win special business advantages,” as ThinkProgress detailed in October.

Here is a great thought readers....Dick Cheney and Julian Assange sharing the same prison cell, if only...........................


NFTOS

"If You Don't Play My Way..... I'll Take My Ball And Go Home"

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Senate Republicans promised via a letter Wednesday to block legislative action on every issue being considered by the lame-duck Congress until the dispute over extending the Bush-era tax cuts is resolved and an extension of current government funding is approved.

"While there are other items that might ultimately be worthy of the Senate's attention, we cannot agree to prioritize any matters above the critical issues of funding the government and preventing a job-killing tax hike," all 42 GOP senators wrote in a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev. The 42 signatures are more than enough to block action on almost any item he wishes to advance.

"With little time left in this congressional session, legislative scheduling should be focused on these critical priorities. While there are other items that might ultimately be worthy of the Senate's attention, we cannot agree to prioritize any matters above the critical issues of funding the government and preventing a job-killing tax hike," the letter said.

The 2001 and 2003 tax cuts enacted by former President George W. Bush are ready to expire after December 31 if Congress fails to reach an agreement on their extension. Top Democrats and Republicans disharmonize greatly over whether the current tax rates should be extended just for families earning $250,000 or under per year or for everyone regardless of income.

Republicans contend that a failure to extend all of the tax cuts would hamper an already-sluggish economy. President Barack Obama and Democratic congressional leaders argue that the roughly $700 billion price tag attached to an extension of the tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans would be fiscally irresponsible.

In what could be construed as a stalemate House Democrats announced their intention to move forward with a vote Thursday to permanently extend the breaks only for families earning $250,000 or less.

Democrats are feverishly trying to pass several pieces of legislation before a more Republican Congress takes over in January, a repeal of the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly in the military, and the so-called DREAM Act, which would create a path to citizenship for young illegal immigrants.

The threat does not apply to a new arms control treaty with Russia that is pending, since it would be debated under rules that differ from those that apply to routine legislation. President Barack Obama has made ratification of the pact a top priority. Most Republicans vehemently oppose the Dream Act, saying it amounts to amnesty. And they decry the strategy of acting on such issues during the lame-duck session, accusing Democrats of playing politics and ignoring the message voters sent Nov. 2. Well yes the voters did speak, and the Mexican vote was heard loud and clear, no to Sharon "I hate Mexicans" Angle, and yes to Harry Reid.

The caveat to the Republicans parlaying a vote on the New Start Treaty, is that every living DOD Director and Secretary of State dating back to the Reagan era supports the treaty (Rep and Dem) and their message is, "do it now". Colin Powell and other Secretary of States will release a op-ed tomorrow in the Washington Post regarding their support for the treaty.

Harry Reid blasted the GOP letter on the Senate floor Wednesday morning, calling it part of a "cynical" and transparent" Republican strategy to "obstruct" and "delay" legislative progress while blaming the Democrats for failing to effectively govern.

"Last month, the American people issued their verdict on the Democrat's priorities," replied Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky. "We need to show the American people that we care more about them and their ability to pay their bills than we do about the special interests' legislative Christmas-list."

Since the slaughtering last month at the polls, Republicans have been very vocal that they would "halt" government work until January when they then can control the house majority. Isn't this just like the party of know nothings. The bully brigade (McConnell and Boehner) will stop at nothing to ensure that the rich continue to get richer, come hell or high water, even if it means stymie the country to do so. The theme of "lets line the pockets" of the elite two percent of America is never more resounding than today.

Republicans are ready to "hold America" hostage to get it's way. Who wins when tea bags shut down the government? Why do those whom occupy space right of center feel that this gridlock is the best coarse for the betterment of our country? How does passing this tax bill for the rich help the poor pay for Christmas?

Republicans have been holding up our Government for over four years, so why should we be shocked that they are double fisting their filibuster stamp today? Since January 2007 Republicans have trumped everything with this stamp. Republicans would filibuster their own mothers usage of dental floss if it came up on the floor.

The last nine congresses had an average of 56 filibuster per period. (100th to 109th congress). The latest congress (110th) filibustered 112 items. Twice the normal or nominal filibuster activity. The republicans will risk everything to get this tax cut for their millionaire cronies, your National Security, your unemployment, your home mortgage, your healthcare, nothing is off limits for the axis of idiots.

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The "NO" parties existance has never been stronger than today. NFTOS says to the Democratic leaders, call their bluff, put the vote to the floor tomorrow, let the Republicans show their true colors, lets show America what truly matters too the republican party, make them put their money where their mouth is.

Last November all we heard was "We the people", make the republicans prove to us that "they hold these truths to be self-evident."



Play our way, or we take our ball and go home........


NFTOS

Operation Hemorrhage AKA Death By a Thousand Paper Cuts

The phrase "death of a thousand cuts" is often used metaphorically to describe the gradual or instrumentalism destruction of something, such as an institution. program or country, by repeated minor attacks.

NFTOS editor in chief Roger West was quoted earlier this week as saying "Al Qaeda no longer needs its bombs to detonate. It merely needs to toy with those who have allowed themselves to be governed by fear."

The initial strategy of Al-Qaeda was to strike big while the enemy was off guard. The blessed operations of Washington and New York represent the greatest special operations in the history of man. Nineteen men ended the lives of almost three thousand Americans, cost the U.S. treasury trillions of dollars, and embroiled America in a War on Terror that it would definitely eventually lose. America has spent time, effort, and money to precent a large scale attack such as 9/11 from ever occurring again. Even though that is what they state, on our side we believe that if Allah willed it no security measures could stand in the way of the mujahidin from repeating the glory of the operations of Washington and New York.

However, to bring down America we need not strike big. In such of environment of security phobia that is sweeping America, it is more feasible to stage smaller attacks that involve less players and less time to launch, and thus we may circumvent the security barriers America worked so hard to erect. This strategy of attacking the enemy with smaller, but more frequent operations is what some may refer to as the strategy of a thousand cuts. The aim is to bleed the enemy to death.

Inspire magazine prints," We dedicate this issue to cover exclusive material of Operation Hemorrhage. We reveal for the first time the details of the operation and we correct the erroneous information that has been spreading through the airwaves."

In this special issue of Inspire, the Head of the Foreign Operations Team will cover the general details and objectives of the operation, Ikrimah al-Muhajir will go through some of the technical details of the device, Yahya Ibrahim will go through the economic leverage of such an operation and Shaykh Ibrahim al-Banna will discuss the religious objectives. We will also post some photos we took for some of the items we included in the packages.

Quoting radical insiders

"We would like to congratulate the Muslim nation for the success of our operation and we ask them to pray for us that Allah enables us to carry on this fight against America, the head of today's Crusade."

By pursuing a strategy with minimal cost to itself, al Qaeda can be assured that we will inflict the maximum economic damage to ourselves because of our unwillingness to face life’s only certainty: our mortality. Neither the TSA, nor the US Government, nor the US military, nor the war on terrorism, can make us safe, because life isn’t safe.

In pursuit of an unattainable level of safety we show ourselves willing to accept all manner of indignities — all in the name of security. But as one of the latest airline passengers, recounting the humiliation he suffered at the hands of TSA officers, said: “if this country is going to sacrifice treating people like human beings in the name of safety, then we have already lost the war.”

Indeed, as al Qaeda’s planners survey the American scene, they can only marvel at the ease with which they have established their own competitive advantage.

As the New York Times reports:

In a detailed account of its failed parcel bomb plot last month, Al Qaeda’s branch in Yemen said late Saturday that the operation cost only $4,200 to mount, was intended to disrupt global air cargo systems and reflected a new strategy of low-cost attacks designed to inflict broad economic damage.

The group, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, released to militant Web sites a new edition of its English-language magazine, called Inspire, devoted entirely to explaining the technology and tactics in the attack, in which toner cartridges packed with explosives were intercepted in Dubai and Britain. The printers containing the cartridges had been sent from Yemen’s capital, Sana, to out-of-date addresses for two Chicago synagogues.

The attack failed as a result of a tip from Saudi intelligence, which provided the tracking numbers for the parcels, sent via United Parcel Service and FedEx. But the Al Qaeda magazine said the fear, disruption and added security costs caused by the packages made what it called Operation Hemorrhage a success.

“Two Nokia mobiles, $150 each, two HP printers, $300 each, plus shipping, transportation and other miscellaneous expenses add up to a total bill of $4,200. That is all what Operation Hemorrhage cost us,” the magazine said.

It mocked the notion that the plot was a failure, saying it was the work of “less than six brothers” over three months. “This supposedly ‘foiled plot,’ ” the group wrote, “will without a doubt cost America and other Western countries billions of dollars in new security measures. That is what we call leverage.”

The magazine included photographs of the printers and bombs that the group said were taken before they were shipped, as well as a copy of the novel “Great Expectations” by Charles Dickens that it said it had placed in one package because the group was “very optimistic” about the operation’s success.

Although Western security officials have insisted that at least one of the parcel bombs was hours away from exploding, it seems just as likely that this operation was designed to showcase security vulnerabilities — that indeed it was conceived as a magazine cover story.

Al Qaeda has warned Britain that it will continue to find ways to bypass its security and plans to ramp up airborne attacks using passenger jets, it was revealed Sunday. The terrorist network said it was training a new generation of bomb makers and intended to target more commercial airliners, having successfully managed to smuggle powerful explosives on board cargo planes.

“The following phase would be for us to use similar devices on civilian aircraft in western countries,” the group’s Yemen-based offshoot said in the latest edition of its propaganda magazine.

It also announced plans to downgrade its use of suicide bombers and step up plots to disrupt transatlantic trade.

The bombs evaded security checks because they used PETN, a powerful form of explosive that is organic and difficult for airport scanners to detect. They were hidden in printer toner cartridges.

Although the plot was foiled, AQAP said it will have cost the West billions of dollars in new security measures. “That is why we dropped into one of the boxes a [Charles Dickens] novel titled 'Great Expectations,'” it said.

Last week Sir Paul Stephenson, the Metropolitan police commissioner, said the terrorist threat to Britain was now at its highest since the Glasgow airport and Tiger Tiger nightclub bombing attempts in 2007. He said that aviation continued to pose a particular risk.

AQAP appears to confirm the fears of western security agencies that it was training bomb makers to build devices that cannot be detected, even by the most advanced airport security.

It said its master bomb maker, Ibrahim al Asiri, a wanted Saudi militant who is the key suspect in the cargo bomb plot, " is safe and well. He is currently busy teaching a new batch of students the latest in bomb making skills”.

Some 60 percent of global air cargo travels on passenger planes at some point on its journey and the group says it wants to use such devices against civilian aircraft in the West. Colonel Richard Kemp, former chairman of the intelligence group at Cobra, the government’s emergency committee, said al Qaeda’s interest in suicide attacks would not diminish.

He said: “This group, which also attempted a suicide attack against an aircraft a year ago, and other al Qaeda cells around the world, will continue to attempt all forms of mass casualty attack that they believe may stand a chance of success. It is this judgment -- the likelihood of success -- that will determine how they attack.”

AQAP also took credit for the September crash of a UPS cargo flight in Dubai. However, U.S. and U.A.E. officials have concluded that the crash was not an act of terrorism.

Keep this blog in mind when 2012 rolls around. Can we really afford to have a "half governor" running out country as POTUS with issues like these on the table? These times call for SME (Subject Matter Experts) whom can be one step ahead of those whom would like to see out country slowly bleed to death. Writing books, watching your daughter dance haphazardly across the hardwood floors, and using your twitter account as your pulpit is not a vehicle to a seat at the oval office.


NFTOS

Dick Cheney is Number One....In His Eyes Only

(Experts taken from Thinkprogress)

Congress has 32 days to act on the "Bush Tax Cuts". 32 days until expiration.

The expiration of the Bush tax cuts was put into law to mask their long-term cost, and so that they could pass under budget reconciliation rules (and thus not be subjected to a filibuster). Even so, the second round of tax cuts — the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 — barely scraped by in the Senate.

After a tied 50-50 vote, Vice-President Dick Cheney cast the deciding aye to move the Bush tax cuts forward. And in a segment of Brit Hume’s six-hour documentary, The Right, All Along: The Rise, Fall & Future of Conservatism, which aired on Fox News this weekend, Cheney brags about how his vote was the culmination of a 30 year push to put supply-side economic theory into practice:

The Bush tax cuts are always portrayed as a glorious moment in economic history.

Yesterday, David Stockman, budget director under President Reagan, blasted the Republican party for creating a “theology” regarding tax cuts. “After 1985, the Republican Party adopted the idea that tax cuts can solve the whole problem, and that therefore in the future, deficits didn’t matter and tax cuts would be the solution of first, second, and third resort,” Stockman said. Indeed, it was Cheney himself who allegedly claimed that “deficits don’t matter.”

While Democrats and President Obama have said that they want to preserve the tax cuts for the middle-class which would be a savings of $830 billion over ten years by allowing the cuts to expire for the richest two percent of Americans. Republicans have steadfastly refused to consider anything but an across-the-board extension.

Bought and paid for: of the wealthy, for the wealthy, by the wealthy.



Cheney is sub-species known as the "Chicken Hawk,” which is a person who publicly supports a war but is too much of a chicken to fight in it himself. In 1963, with the draft board ramping up, Cheney enrolled in Casper Community College (one of the finest institutions of higher-learning in Southwest Casper), and received his first student deferment. Later that year, he got his second student deferment. In August of 1964, Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin resolution, escalating American military involvement. Twenty-two days later, Dick married his wife, and a few months later received his third deferment. In July, 1965, President Johnson announced he would double the number of draftees. Cheney moved quickly, entered graduate school that year, and received his fourth student deferment. This was quite a sacrifice, as grad school is known to be extremely boring. Cheney received a “hardship exemption" in 1966 when he and his wife conceived their first child. By the next year, he was no longer eligible for the draft. It had been a long process, but Cheney learned a valuable lesson: if you get in a jam, you can usually get out of it by making babies.

Dick was and is the biggest supporter of Iraqi war.

Dick is not partial to being heartless, corrupt, unethical, iniquitous, knavish, mercenary, nefarious, on the take, open, perfidious, praetorian, profiteering, racket up, reprobate, rotten, shady, snide, tainted, treacherous, two-faced, underhanded, unprincipled, unscrupulous, untrustworthy, and venal.

His bragging of casting the winning vote for the Bush tax cuts clearly characterizes Dick as being "number one", even if it's in his eyes only.


NFTOS

CABLEGATE 1966-2010

BREAKING NEWS:


Wikileaks and it master of disaster, document leaker Julian Assange have released yet another set (third set, or trilogy) of damaging secret documents. Once held in a dept of defense database, and now released to the world Sunday November 28, 2010.

The Internet site "Wikileaks" is well known for disseminating papers not meant for public purview. Their motto is "We help you safely get the truth out.", "We are of assistance to peoples of all countries who wish to reveal unethical behavior in their governments and institutions." "We aim for maximum political impact." And impact it is, as these documents run from 1966-2010.



Never before has a country lost control of such a massive amount of "secret" documents. Never before has a MEGA power been betrayed in such behemoth proportions, by one if its own, which was a jilted homosexual, whom also held a career as a US Army private first class (lowest form of military rank). The leaked documents reportedly came from the same source- Bradley Manning (whom leaked previous two US secret dumps) – who was bitter after a breakup with his boyfriend. Manning, smuggled the information out of a secure facility on a CD-RW labeled “Lady Gaga.”

Private First Class Bradley E. Manning (born 1987) is a United States Army soldier who has been arrested and charged with the unauthorized use and disclosure of U.S. classified information.

Manning was an intelligence analyst assigned to a support battalion with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division at Contingency Operating Station Hammer, Iraq. Agents of the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command arrested Manning based on information received from federal authorities provided by an American journalist informant, Adrian Lamo, in whom Manning had previously confided. Lamo said that Manning claimed, via instant messaging, to be the person who had leaked the "Collateral Murder" video of the July 12, 2007, Baghdad airstrike, in addition to a video of the Granai airstrike and around 260,000 diplomatic cables, to the whistleblower website Wikileaks, with Manning saying he hoped the release of the videos and documents would lead to "worldwide discussion, debates, and reforms."

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Manning was arrested in May 2010 and detained in military prison for more than a month without charge. On July 5, 2010, Manning was charged under the Uniform Code of Military Justice with violations of Article 92 and Article 134, for "transferring classified data onto his personal computer and adding unauthorized software to a classified computer system," and "communicating, transmitting and delivering national defense information to an unauthorized source". The maximum possible prison sentence for the charges is 52 years. An Army spokesman stated that an Article 32 hearing, similar to a grand jury, would be held to determine whether or not there was enough evidence to proceed to a court-martial.


Germany's Der Spiegel created an interactive map to show the location, sensitivity (color), and quantity (circle size) of the diplomatic cables recently published on wikileaks.

These recent document dumps expose America and it's allies unlike never been before. The embarrassment and damage is unparallel. This cache of a quarter-million confidential American diplomatic cables, most of them from the past three years, provides an unprecedented look at backroom bargaining by embassies around the world, brutally candid views of foreign leaders and frank assessments of nuclear and terrorist threats.

This cache of 251,287 confidential documents, which detail correspondence between the U.S. State Department and U.S. embassies around the world is being read with a resounding thump. The release includes approximately 100,000 documents labeled "confidential" on the classification scale and around 15,000 documents at the higher level "secret", but none marked "top secret". Most of the documents focus on diplomatic relations between the U.S. and Middle East states. WikiLeaks plans on releasing the entirety of the cables in phases over several months.

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

NFTOS is tracking the leaked documents.
Here are a few items from the 250,000 dispatches leaked to NFTOS and other media outlets:

The White House had concerns about the mental health of Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner.

US view of Kim Jong-il, Putin, Sarkozy and Berlusconi

The German dispatches: Internal source kept U.S. informed of Merkel coalition negotiations

‘Tribune of Anatolia’: Diplomatic cables reveal U.S. doubts about Turkey’s government

Orders from Clinton: U.S. diplomats told to spy on other countries at United Nations

Embassy cables tell of elderly American’s escape from Iran: Man, 75, rode horse over freezing mountain range into Turkey

Fear of ‘different world’ if Iran gets nuclear weapons

Israel primed to attack a nuclear Iran

Secret EU plot to boycott Ahmadinejad inauguration

Iran ‘lied to UN inspectors about Qom nuclear site’

Arab states scorn ‘evil’ Iran

Iranian spies ‘used Red Crescent to enter war zones’

Briton teaches U.S. diplomats how to talk to Iran

How does a PFC US Army gain access to this plethora amount of documents? (A security clearance is a status granted to individuals allowing them access to classified information, i.e., state secrets, or to restricted areas after completion of a thorough background check. The term "security clearance" is also sometimes used in private organizations that have a formal process to vet employees for access to sensitive information. A clearance by itself is normally not sufficient to gain access; the organization must determine that the cleared individual needs to know the information. No one is supposed to be granted access to classified information solely because of rank, position, or a security clearance.)

Soft-pedaling this traitor’s punishment is unacceptable. Treason by way of hanging is the only punishment acceptable in this case. Mr. Manning committed countless acts of spying during a time of war. The fact that he was turning over the information to Wiki-leaks and not directly to a foreign government doesn’t make any difference.

This latest dump, like the two previous, further exposes the United States National Security program.

For a 23 year old to be able to "act" like he was listening to music "lady gaga" and download thousands upon thousands of documents, just ludicrous, and a crime.

Julian Assange is as much the sludge as PFC Manning. Assange whom has no home of his own, and lives (traveling circus) with pals and friends, often shuffling around like Osama Bin Laden should be held accountable to the law as it applies. Assange and Wikileaks should be considered "terrorist".

Stopping Assnage and Wikileaks will be adamantine at best. The US attorneys need to issue warrants for the immediate arrest of Assange. Like the self professed Assange, (Assange is a well known cyber hacker) Wikileaks needs to be hacked or cyber attacked to shut it down.

Damage done, both the Department of Defense and the State Department need to address classified document control.

NFTOS
Editor in Chief
Roger West

START TREATY

The START Treaty is a detente fostered by the Obama administration between the United States and Russia.



Politics today is a "us against them" mentality. Business of late is to shut down any policy administered by the left ir-regaurdless of merit or sustenance. If the Republicans follow this sentiment and fail to ratify New START treaty, they will be making a huge mistake that could have dreadful consequences for national security.

The New START Treaty (for Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) (Russian: СНВ-III) is a bilateral nuclear arms reduction treaty between the United States and the Russian Federation that was signed in Prague on April 8, 2010. It is a follow-up to the 1991 START I treaty, which expired in December 2009, and to START II and the 2002 Treaty of Moscow (SORT), which was due to expire in December 2012. Prolonged talks were conducted by U.S. and Russian delegations in Geneva, led on the American side by U.S. State Department Assistant Secretary Rose Gottemoeller. The Russian delegation was headed by Anatoly Antonov, director of security and disarmament at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Presidents Barack Obama and Dmitry Medvedev then announced on 26 March 2010 that they had reached an agreement. The new treaty was signed on 8 April 2010 in Prague by Obama and Medvedev.




The speed bump in the road for passage is a fellow alumni of mine. Arizona senator Jon Kyl said on November 17, 2010 he didn't think the issue should be considered this year, citing a busy Senate agenda and the complexity of the treaty. Democrats are unlikely to be able to move forward without his support. Sen. Jon Kyl, the leading Republican senator on the New START agreement, who has demanded more funds for the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a condition for approving the treaty. The White House proposed adding $4.1 billion to modernize the arsenal and officials traveled to Kyl's home state to sell the pact, according to a congressional aide. But the senator wasn't sufficiently impressed.

Kyl's support is crucial because a number of his Republican colleagues have said they will follow his lead on the treaty. Why, because most republicans have a hard time for thinking for themselves.

Kyl has maintained that boosting funding for the stockpile would ease Republican concerns about the treaty by demonstrating that the administration is serious about maintaining a robust U.S. nuclear deterrent. The treaty would reduce U.S. and Russian limits on strategic warheads to 1,550 for each country from the current ceiling of 2,200. It also would set up new procedures to allow both countries to inspect each other's arsenals to verify compliance.

Failure to win passage could trip up one of the administration's top foreign policy goals: improving relations with Russia. The treaty, signed in April by Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, has been the most tangible sign of success, and failure to get it ratified could be viewed as a rebuke in Moscow. It also would leave Obama's push for even greater restrictions on the world's nuclear arsenal in doubt.

Kyl's rejection of fast action will likely set the treaty back at least for months because Republicans will probably demand new hearings in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee so that newly elected lawmakers are briefed.

Yes we have to train newly elected tea bags on policies, amendments, and law before we can move our country forward. As if we can afford to wait on the axis of idiots, and the know-nothings to get up to speed, [when this is something they should have learned in high school].

This treaty is fundamental to our nations security. President Obama said “A failure to ratify New START would be a dangerous gamble with America’s national security, setting back our understanding of Russia’s nuclear weapons, as well as our leadership in the world.”

Daily we hear Saranoya Palin squawking about "Nation Security". If there is one issue that should unite us, certainly it has to be the security of our country.

Every President since Ronald Regan has ensured a treaty with Russia.

It would appear that the republican regime would rather screw the world for ensuring that Obama is only a one term President.



The ignorance of the right is never more prevalent than with this treaty.

The treaty has the overwhelming support of the military and national security professionals (from both Democratic and Republican administrations), including former Secretaries of State Colin Powell and Henry Kissinger and former Defense Secretaries William Cohen and James Schlesinger, among others.

Get off your ass Senator Kyl and ratify the treaty!


Roger West
NFTOS Editor in Chief

ANN HART COULTER

Fascist party doll, Syndicated communist, Ann Hart Coulter (born December 8, 1961) is an American conservative pundit, a syndicated columnist, a best-selling author, a frequent television and radio guest, a self-described “polemicist,” and a self-promoting loathing tea bag enthusiast. Best known for purveying hate, Coulter revels in the mass loathing she herself inspires, a delight so aberrational as to invite speculation that she may in fact be an alien life form.

Coulter is quick to blame Democrats and Canada for everything wrong with the world while simultaneously decreeing anything that a Republican touches instantly turns into gold; according to her anyone who is not a Republican is morally depraved and needs to be led by her political party which is the only one capable in her mind.


CAUTION ADULT CONTENT

CAUTION ADULT CONTENT

Coulter is a multi-media presence, turning up all too regularly on television and radio talk shows where she frequently says things with the sole purpose of creating controversy – like Madonna but without the faux-British accent and public masturbation.

Coulter had the intelligence to battle supreme court cases, but missed her queue and became consumed with President Clinton's cigar sex with then intern Monica Lewinsky.
In short order Coulter climbed the pundit ladder to what we now see on Faux News occasionally. Coulter has been called every name in the book, from "talking kite" to a "bazaar sideshow". These sideshows include being fired in 1997 from MSNBC for verbally attacking a Vietnam vet on air, and coulter was dropped from The National Review in 2002 for slandering the publication on the national talk show circuit.



Two-time voter fraud suspect Ann Coulter reprised her role of late playing a racial-profiling advocate an aviation security expert on Fox News tonight. Last night, Coulter attacked the TSA’s new body scan machines and argued for racial profiling, instead.



Coulter, the queen of right wing nut jobs has little input for correcting the wrongs with political policies. Coulter complains that liberals shouldn’t be nasty to conservatives but she thinks it’s really cool if conservatives get violent to others. Coulters words are meant to cut and incite anger.

The rabid far-right commentator Ann Coulter is known across America for sliming everyone and everything she disagrees with. Al Gore is a “total fag”. Democrats are “gutless traitors” and their convention is a “Spawn of Satan” gathering.” Jews are people who need to be “perfected.” The Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens should have “rat poisoning” mixed into his food. Princess Diana “ostentatiously [had] sex in front of [her] children.” The Rev. Al Sharpton is “a fat, race-baiting black man.” President Bill Clinton was “a very good rapist,”.

The plethora of moronic quotes from Coulter are never ending. We have included a grand collection of hate baited banter by Coulter. Enjoy the rhetoric, while it's authors intent is to belittle, berate and anger, one has to consider the source. Ann's lanky frame, large adams apple, and throaty voice has lead to rumors that she is a post operative transsexual.
Maybe this would explain the quotes below:

"Whether they are defending the Soviet Union or bleating for Saddam Hussein, liberals are always against America. They are either traitors or idiots.."

Jersey Girls (A group of 9/11 Widows)
"These broads are millionaires, lionized on TV and in articles about them, reveling in their status as celebrities and stalked by grief-arazzis... These self-obsessed women seemed genuinely unaware that 9/11 was an attack on our nation and acted as if the terrorist attacks happened only to them... I’ve never seen people enjoying their husbands’ deaths so much."

"My only regret with Timothy McVeigh is he did not go to the New York Times building."

"Not all Muslims may be terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims — at least all terrorists capable of assembling a murderous plot against America that leaves 7,000 people dead in under two hours. How are we to distinguish the peaceful Muslims from the fanatical, homicidal Muslims about to murder thousands of our fellow citizens?"

"Taxes are like abortion, and not just because both are grotesque procedures supported by Democrats. You're for them or against them. Taxes go up or down; government raises taxes or lowers them. But Democrats will not let the words abortion or tax hikes pass their lips."

"I think the government should be spying on all Arabs, engaging in torture as a televised spectator sport, dropping daisy cutters wantonly throughout the Middle East and sending liberals to Guantanamo."

"I wouldn't kill an abortionist myself, but I wouldn't want to impose my moral values on others. No one is for shooting abortionists. But how will criminalizing men making difficult, often tragic, decisions be an effective means of achieving the goal of reducing the shootings of abortionists?"

"Canadians better hope the United States does not roll over one night and crush them. They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent."

"The Episcopals don't demand much in the way of actual religious belief. They have girl priests, gay priests, gay bishops, gay marriages — it's much like The New York Times editorial board. They acknowledge the Ten Commandments — or "Moses' talking points" — but hasten to add that they're not exactly "carved in stone."

"Being nice to people is, in fact, one of the incidental tenets of Christianity (as opposed to other religions whose tenets are more along the lines of 'kill everyone who doesn't smell bad and doesn't answer to the name Mohammed')."

"Democrats cannot conceive of "hate speech" towards Christians because, in their eyes, Christians always deserve it."

"We should invade their countries, kill their leaders and convert them to Christianity. We weren't punctilious about locating and punishing only Hitler and his top officers. We carpet-bombed German cities; we killed civilians. That's war. And this is war."

"Few failures have been more spectacular. Illiterate students knifing one another between acts of sodomy in the stairwell is just one of the many eggs that had to be broken to make the left's omelets of transferring power from states to the federal government."

"These people can't even wrap up genocide. We've been hearing about this slaughter in Darfur forever — and they still haven't finished. The aggressors are moving like termites across that country. It's like genocide by committee. Who's running this holocaust in Darfur, FEMA? This is truly a war in which we have absolutely no interest."

"a question on reparations has got to be confusing when you're half-white and half-black. What do you do? Demand an apology for slavery and money from yourself? I guess biracial reparations would involve sending yourself money, then sending back a portion of that money to yourself, minus 50 percent in processing fees — which is the same way federal aid works."

"Here at the Spawn of Satan convention in Boston, conservatives are deploying a series of covert signals to identify one another, much like gay men do. My allies are the ones wearing crosses or American flags. The people sporting shirts emblazoned with the "F-word" are my opponents. Also, as always, the pretty girls and cops are on my side, most of them barely able to conceal their eye-rolling."

"The Democrats are giving aid and comfort to the enemy for no purpose other than giving aid and comfort to the enemy. There is no plausible explanation for the Democrats' behavior other than that they long to see U.S. troops shot, humiliated, and driven from the field of battle. They fill the airwaves with treason, but when called to vote on withdrawing troops, disavow their own public statements. These people are not only traitors, they are gutless traitors."

"In the history of the nation, there has never been a political party so ridiculous as today's Democrats. It's as if all the brain-damaged people in America got together and formed a voting bloc"

"They're [Democrats] always accusing us of repressing their speech. I say let's do it. Let's repress them. Frankly, I'm not a big fan of the First Amendment."

On George Bush, "The man responsible for keeping Americans safe from another terrorist attack on American soil for nearly seven years now will go down in history as one of America's greatest presidents."

"I'd build a wall. In fact, I'd hire illegal immigrants to build the wall. And throw out the illegals who are here. ... It's cheap labor."

"Liberals are hopping mad because Rush Limbaugh referred to phony soldiers as "phony soldiers." They claim he was accusing all Democrats in the military of being "phony." True, all Democrats in the military are not phony soldiers, but all phony soldiers seem to be Democrats."

"You don't want the Republicans in power, does that mean you want a dictatorship, gay boy?"

"Then there are the 22 million Americans on food stamps. And of course there are the 39 million greedy geezers collecting Social Security. The greatest generation rewarded itself with a pretty big meal"

"I think [women] should be armed but should not vote...women have no capacity to understand how money is earned. They have a lot of ideas on how to spend it...it's always more money on education, more money on child care, more money on day care."

"I think there should be a literacy test and a poll tax for people to vote."

NFTOS

LTC Allen West's "The Kaufman Experiment"

Lieutenant Colonel US Army Ret Allen West (no relation what so ever to blogger) is no virgin to controversy. While the retired LTC holds a strong suit in military ops, he certainly falls short with common sense. LTC West also lays claim to holding a government security clearance higher than those whom occupy the oval office at the white house. Having held clearances myself, I tell you that the Lieutenant Colonel is a little delusional thinking he holds more top secret information than the President. Does West really possess key codes to United States nuclear armament? Let' hope not.

LTC US Army Ret. Allen West:
While serving in Taji, Iraq, on August 20, 2003, as commander of the 2d Battalion, 20th Field Artillery Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel West was in charge of an interrogation of a civilian Iraqi police officer who was suspected of having pertinent information regarding attacks on American soldiers in the area. Interrogators had learned that the detainee had information about a planned ambush. When the interrogators were unable to extract the needed important information for some time, LTC West was asked to come try to obtain the important information. As the detainee continued to hold back the information, LTC West fired his pistol past the detainee's head into a clearing barrel, frightening (but not physically harming) the detainee and getting him to finally give the information. According to Lt. Col. West's sworn statement, the detainee informed West that:

“ [The attack] was to occur Friday morning in Saba al Boor vicinity of the police station by positioned snipers supposedly being brought in from Fallujah. [The detainee] was to ID my vehicle and myself for these rooftop firers. We took this information and the following day established flask CPs and used AH-64s overhead. There was no attack and no further attacks have emanated from the town since the apprehension of [the detainee] and his named associates. ”

At least one man was apprehended as a result of the information obtained through the detainee's interrogation. His home was searched, but no plans for attacks on Americans or weapons were found. Colonel West testified that he did not know whether "any corroboration" of a plot was ever found, adding: "At the time I had to base my decision on the intelligence I received. It's possible that I was wrong about [the detainee,] Mr. Hamoodi."

West, who at the time was just short of having 22 years of service, was charged with violating articles 128 (assault) and 134 (general article) of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. West was processed through an Article 32 hearing in November 2003, where he admitted wrongdoing, was fined $5,000 . He then submitted his retirement paperwork and was allowed to retire with full benefits in the summer of 2004.

NBC’s Lisa Myers filed a report suggesting that West is associated with the Outlaws motorcycle gang, which has a history of criminal activity, and said that association has cost West support in Florida’s law enforcement community.

While running for office West had a "tax plan": You pay yours. He’ll skip out on his," reports showed West owed or had a $11,000 tax lien against him – only after being challenged did West acknowledge and pay the lien.

The NAACP claims West is a racist against himself. After the NAACP passed a resolution declaring the tea party to be a "racist" organization, you knew that Allen West would have something to say. After all, he's one (if not the only?) tea party-backed congressional candidate who's African-American. If the tea party is racist, then West's own tea party activism would make him racist against himself. In West's own blog he says:

Instead of maintaining its mission and vision, the NAACP has now become the "useful idiots" (a term coined by Vladimir Lenin) for liberal racism.

Considering the tea party ranks are dominated by middle-aged white folks who weren't interested in politics until they started watching Glenn Beck, I'm not sure a tea party candidate like West should be lecturing anyone else about exploiting "useful idiots."

West's blog goes on to say:

"They have made themselves into a political hack job organization which now seeks to maintain the liberal progressive socialist control of the 21 century plantation. It is on this new economic plantation where the liberals seek to enslave the black community in order to maintain a devoted, monolithic, voting electorate."

Fact: Lenin never used the term "useful idiots." It would appear that LTC West missed fact checking when gaining his masters in military arts and science.



Famous Lieutenant Colonel US Army Ret. Allen West quotes and beliefs:

OUTRAGEOUS:

West: says liberals want soldiers to die
West: fails to pay his own taxes and bills
West: People with Coexist Bumper Stickers Would Give Away Our Country
West: says Democrats think "Christians are terrorists"
West: Take up arms against the government
West: liberals detest America
West: liberals seek to destroy God and Country
West: the nation is nearing a “tipping point” toward socialism when more than half of all Americans depend on the government for financial support.

DANGEROUS:

West: calls himself a "right wing extremist"
West: endorsed by those who favor cutting Social Security
West: has lied about his own statements regarding DOE
West: supports failed economic policies
West: has lied about congressional pensions
West: encouraged physical threats in campaigning
West: took Barton PAC money








The queen of "If ballots don't work, bullets will," is accused of inciting violence in Florida. According to the Miami Herald, a warning call was phoned into WFTL 850 AM from a woman claiming that her husband was planning to carry out a mass shooting in Broward County, specifically targeting government buildings and schools. In addition, the Pembroke Pines Police Department says the WFTL station received an emailed warning addressed directly to Kaufman.

Florida’s WSVN News has the story:

As a result of the investigation into a threat that lead to the lockdown of all schools in Broward County, Wednesday, Joyce Kaufman announced on her WFTL radio show, the following day, that she will step down as Chief of Staff to Republican U.S. Rep.-elect Allen West. “Last night, I called congressman-elect Allen West, and I told him I would not be able to accept the position of chief of staff for Congressional District 22,” she said.

According to sources, something Kaufman had said at a tea party rally, set someone off to write a threatening email to that station, early Wednesday morning. During that rally Kaufman said, “If ballots don’t work, bullets will.” MSNBC aired the clip on Rachel Maddow’s TV show, where Maddow offered to introduce viewers to the new crop of conservatives entering office as a result of the Nov. 2 elections….

Police said that soon after MSNBC aired the clip featuring Kaufman, WFTL received an email that stated, in part: “I’m planning something big around the government building here in Broward County, maybe a post office, maybe even a school.”

Joyce Kaufman AKA the "The Kaufman Experiment' is the typical throw back radical republican redneck. Much like Dana Loesch, (must be mother and daughter) the hate echoed from either of these woman is enough to make a brontosaurus puke.

Last week LTC Allen West (R-FL) doubled downed on his support of his almost-chief of staff, right-wing talk radio host Joyce Kaufman. Kaufman backed out of the job after increased attention to her pro-insurgency rhetoric.

She's a "very brilliant political mind," West said today.

Kaufman recently called outgoing Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) "garbage" and earlier this year called for violent revolution if the Republicans didn't win the midterm elections.

West added that media criticism of Kaufman has been "absolutely reprehensible" and that "the things are being said about her" demonstrate the "duplicitous hypocrisy" of the mainstream media.

LTC West claims that " If I was a black democrat congressman, you won't see these kind of attacks".

Reports by the media turned up numerous incidents in which Kaufman had spoken with incendiary rhetoric against illegal immigrants and Muslims which caused West's hand picked protégé to step down before even taking taxpayer dollars for her hate.

Some speech "incidents" by the big mouth Kaufman are:

In August 2007, when discussing illegal immigrants, she said on her show, “If you commit a crime while you’re here, we should hang you and send your body back to where you came from, and your family should pay for it.”

She became infuriated at illegal immigration after she called Comcast and the recording said, “Press 2 for Spanish.”

She said at a rally, with West standing by, “Calling illegal immigrants ‘undocumented workers’ is like calling a drug dealer a pharmacist without a license.” She was furious that children of illegal immigrants were educated in public schools and received health care at emergency rooms. “There are people who want to change your way of life, and some of them may be your gardeners,” she said.

According to The New York Times, she previously claimed at a rally that illegal immigrants “reproduce at a rate about three times that American citizens do. And that’s not bigotry, and that’s just fact.”

Her anger is not limited to illegal immigrants. “There’s no way I’m going to live in a country that’s been radically Muslim-ized … and I’m not afraid to say it,” she said at a protest in Jupiter. She also said at the protest that the United States was “this close” to moving towards “fascistic and tyrannical rule.” At the American Freedom Tour in Fort Lauderdale, she wore a T-shirt that said “PROUD MEMBER OF THE ANGRY MOB AND I VOTE,” with the “O” in “MOB” a crossed-out Obama logo.

Oddly enough, LTC West seemed to contend that the examination of Kaufman's past of extreme speech was a sign that liberals had "issues with racism" against him.
Really Colonel?

Ms. Kaufman's "freedom of speech" cost her much. Lost, is her platform to speak on hanging more immigrants, lost is her time as number one bitch to the beloved Lieutenant Colonel, lost is our tax dollars allotted to West to pay staff like Kaufman.

With two of West's experiments failing miserably,(the first was the rogue military interrogator, and the second the Joyce Kaufman experiment) Floridians and Americans can only hope his congressional "experiments" escape with better outcomes. Hopefully West can put away his race card for the betterment of America, and understand that not all of us are "right wing extremist."



Roger West
NFTOS Editor-in-Chief