Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Frequent travelers oppose new TSA security screenings

Frequent travelers oppose new TSA security screenings
By Ben Mutzabaugh

Many of the nation's most frequent fliers — those who travel on business and who the airlines depend on for higher-priced fares — say they oppose new security screening methods at airports, and some are so disturbed that they are cutting back on air travel.

"I am eliminating as many flights as I can," says John Steinberg, a doctor and healthcare consultant who's taken about 50 round-trip flights this year.


http://travel.usatoday.com/flights/post/2010/11/frequent-travelers-oppose-new-tsa-security-screenings/132998/1

S.510 Clears Key Vote, Debate to Resume Today

S.510 Clears Key Vote, Debate to Resume Today
BY HELENA BOTTEMILLER

"It doesn't [fix food safety]. What it does is it raises costs. We're going to increase the cost of food," said Coburn, adding that his proposal would force the agencies to better coordinate.

Coburn argued that his amendment would fix the real food safety problem: ineffective government.


http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2010/11/s510-clears-key-vote-debate-to-resume-today/

Monday, November 29, 2010

Mike Huckabee Challenges First Family to Undergo TSA Screening



"If he thinks this is an appropriate way for us to deal with security as he has defended, then I've said, 'OK, Mr. Obama, take your wife, your two daughters and your mother-in-law to Washington Reagan National Airport and have them publicly go through both the body scanner and the full enhanced pat-down in front of others,'" Huckabee said in an interview on Fox and Friends. "'If it's OK for your wife, your daughters, and your mother-in-law, then maybe the rest of us won't feel so bad when our wives, our daughters and our mothers are being put through this humiliating and degrading, totally unconstitutional, intrusion of their privacy.'"


http://nationaljournal.com/nationalsecurity/mike-huckabee-challenges-first-family-to-undergo-tsa-screening-20101123

2010-11-17 Foreclosure Hearing

Foreclosure Fraud - MSNBC w/ Cenk & Matt Taibbi

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Like the Patriot Act? You’re gonna love the Food Safety Modernization Act

Like the Patriot Act? You’re gonna love the Food Safety Modernization Act
By Rady Ananda

Down to the wire – the bill will likely be voted on this Monday, November 29. Farmers, slow food activists, natural food growers and distributors have all condemned the federal government seizing control of how food is grown and sold. Yet, every day, in corporate and first tier “alternative” media sites, support for the bill is promoted. Here’s why you shouldn’t fall for the psyops.


http://foodfreedom.wordpress.com/2010/11/24/like-the-patriot-act-you%E2%80%99re-gonna-love-the-food-safety-modernization-act/

TSA officers 'desperate' to unionize

TSA officers 'desperate' to unionize

With many of them stifled by part-time pay and unpleasant airport pat downs, officers for the Transportation Security Administration are trying to unionize.

"These are people who desperately need a union," said John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees, which has 600,000 members from different federal agencies. "We want a union and we want collective bargaining rights."


http://money.cnn.com/2010/11/24/news/economy/tsa_screener_union/

Note to TSA: Let me keep my shoes on

Note to TSA: Let me keep my shoes on
By Christian Lander

Opinion: What if we had no air security checks


http://www.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/23/lander.tsa.screening/

The TSA Is Out of Control

TSA Bumper Stickers

TSA Revolt: Naked screening lobby pushes for profit, not privacy?

Judge Napolitano and Glenn Beck discuss the TSA Lies

Thursday, November 25, 2010

A Lost Thanksgiving Lesson

A Lost Thanksgiving Lesson
By John Stossel

Had today's political class been in power in 1623, tomorrow's holiday would have been called "Starvation Day" instead of Thanksgiving. Of course, most of us wouldn't be alive to celebrate it.

Every year around this time, schoolchildren are taught about that wonderful day when Pilgrims and Native Americans shared the fruits of the harvest. But the first Thanksgiving in 1623 almost didn't happen.


http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/24/happy_starvation_day_108049.html

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

TSA and The Myth Of Perfect Security

TSA's Failure Based On The Myth Of Perfect Security
http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20101124/14002512014/tsas-failure-based-myth-perfect-security.shtml

Prosthetics Become Source of Shame at Airport Screenings

Prosthetics Become Source of Shame at Airport Screenings
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/Depression/tsa-medical-humiliations-extra-pain-airports-people-prosthetic/story?id=12227882&page=1


For Sexual Crime Victims, TSA Pat-Downs Can Be 'Re-Traumatizing'

For sexual crime victims, TSA pat-downs can be 're-traumatizing'
By Elizabeth Fuller, Correspondent / November 24, 2010

As the outcry grows against the new security screenings at US airports, one population may face a special burden at TSA checkpoints: victims of rape or sexual assault who are now confronted with a procedure that they feel explicitly strips them of control over their bodies.

The experience “can be extremely re-traumatizing to someone who has already experienced an invasion of their privacy and their body,” says Amy Menna, a counselor and professor at the University of South Florida who has a decade’s experience researching and treating rape survivors.


http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1124/For-sexual-crime-victims-TSA-pat-downs-can-be-re-traumatizing

---

National Sexual Violence Resource Center Calls for End to Invasive TSA Screening Methods

ENOLA, Pa., Nov. 24, 2010 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The National Sexual Violence Resource Center is urging the Transportation Safety Administration to stop invasive new screening procedures. The security measures mandated by the TSA include invasive procedures that have caused some survivors of sexual violence to be traumatized. These procedures can violate an individual's feelings of personal safety and security.

"The National Sexual Violence Resource Center understands the need for national security," said National Sexual Violence Resource Center and Pennsylvania Coalition Against Rape CEO Delilah Rumburg. "However, we believe that our national security mechanisms should not cause thousands of travelers to relive or experience sexual trauma. In a culture wherein we encourage our children and fellow citizens to speak up if anyone touches them in an inappropriate manner, we want to encourage a society where feeling safe also includes mutual respect and dignity. That is why we urge the TSA to stop using these invasive procedures immediately."

TSA's current policy, involving full-body scans and pat-downs, leaves little option for individuals who travel via air. Sexual assault survivors in particular may experience severe panic, anxiety, stress and confusion because of events of prior victimization. Some examples include:

Feelings of re-victimization due to being touched by a stranger.

The full-body scanner may cause strong reactions for adult and child sexual assault survivors whose assault/attack included photographs of them being taken and/or shared.

Pat-downs administered by someone of the same gender may be difficult for adults and children whose perpetrators were of the same gender.

Distressing emotional reactions may result for parent/caregiver survivors of child sexual assault after witnessing their children being patted down or required to submit to a full-body scan.

Current TSA policy states if travelers use airports that utilize the new security measures, they must comply with either a full-body scan or an enhanced pat-down, or they will be unable to continue with their travel plans and may face a civil suit with fines upwards of $11,000.

These screening policies must change. A balance must be reached between security procedures and respect for survivors.

The NSVRC highlights prevention initiatives throughout the country and facilitates connections between anti-sexual violence advocates while offering training and technical assistance, referrals, consultation, systems advocacy, online tools and library resources. For more information, visit www.nsvrc.org or call 877-739-3895.


http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/national-organization-calls-for-end-to-invasive-tsa-screening-methods-110469644.html

Fliers Claim TSA Have Deactivated Body Scanners to Negate National Opt-Out Day

Fliers Claim TSA Have Deactivated Body Scanners [Updated]

According to tweeting travelers, many backscatter and millimeter-wave AIT scanning machines at airports are not in use at all, making opting out impossible. We've asked DHS/TSA for comment, but you can help us confirm.
...
Update: The TSA Press Secretary Nicholas Kimball responded to my inquiry—"Was there any sort of TSA-wide policy to not use the machines today or is this an airport-by-airport decision?"—with this statement: "No. Nothing to this at all."


http://gizmodo.com/5698536/fliers-claim-tsa-have-deactivated-body-scanners

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

TSA officer suspected of kidnapping, sexual assault

TSA officer suspected of kidnapping, sexual assault
By the CNN Wire Staff

Police in west Georgia found a wounded Transportation Security Administration officer at his home after a woman said the man kidnapped and sexually assaulted her, then gave her a suicide note to deliver, authorities said Tuesday.


http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/23/georgia.tsa.employee/

Ah shucks, those TSA folks are just good people with a tough job.

Congressional Staffers Found Grope "Pat-Down" Demonstration So Offensive They Had To AVERT THEIR EYES

TSA uproar moves to Capitol Hill

Several House staffers were uncomfortable and averted their eyes when the TSA demonstrated an enhanced pat-down in the room of 200 people.

“The dumbest part: they did two pat-down demonstrations – male on male, and female on female,” the House staffer said. And they used a young female TSA volunteer “and in front of a room of 200 people, they touched her breasts and her buttocks. People were averting their eyes. The TSA was trying to demonstrate ‘this is not so bad,’ but it made people so uncomfortable to watch, that people were averting their eyes.


http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1110/45505.html

Don't Touch My Junk

TSA to offer Gynecologist Services

TSA Forces Citizen To Consent to Felony Sexual Assault; Media Defends Gov'ts Presumed-Innocence

An ABC News employee said she was subject to a "demeaning" search at Newark Liberty International Airport Sunday morning.

"The woman who checked me reached her hands inside my underwear and felt her way around," she said. "It was basically worse than going to the gynecologist. It was embarrassing. It was demeaning. It was inappropriate."


http://intolerableconsent.blogspot.com/2010/11/tsa-forces-citizen-to-consent-to-felony.html

Song A Day #684: I Don't Like The TSA

Lionel's Wife Gets Groped By TSA Shock Troops

Lionel's Wife Gets Groped By TSA Shock Troops

TSA Parody From Saturday Night Live

Saturday, November 20, 2010

TSA Agents Took My Son

tsa agents took my son

My son was taken from me by the TSA agents at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson airport yesterday.
He was taken away from me and OUT OF MY SIGHT because his pacifier clip went off when I carried him through the metal detector.
According to the Transportation Security Administration website, “We will not ask you to do anything that will separate you from your child or children.”
Bull-**** TSA.
You took my son. MY SON.


http://www.mybottlesup.com/2009/10/tsa-agents-took-my-son/

TSA & Mark Steyn: Give me liberty or give me a grope


Source: Devonia Smith; Dallas Political Buzz Examiner; http://www.examiner.com/political-buzz-in-dallas/mark-steyn-s-liberty-or-a-grope-is-best-tsa-protest-slogan-yet-video

Rep John Mica is an "Anti-TSA" Fraudster

Rep. John Mica, co-author of the original TSA legislation, is trying to position himself as a voice of TSA opposition. This isn't to be believed. His solution would keep the TSA tyranny in charge, but executed more effiently by a private firm. A true private-market solution would be what Ron Paul has advocated for many years, place the responsibility for the security and the terminal in the hands of the airline.

Articles:

A Message From Transport Canada

Profs Asks if TSA Can Handle X-rays

Gropergate: The TSA can handle pizza but profs ask if they can handle X-rays

Do you trust the government to use just the right amount of radiation to determine whether an 80-year-old grandma is a suicide bomber? I don't. If the guys in the TSA are not smart enough to know 80-year-old grandmas don't blow up planes, I don't trust them to tie their own shoes.


http://blog.nj.com/njv_paul_mulshine/2010/11/more_un_gropergate_mutagenic_e.html

NJ Stands up to Federal TSA Tyranny

TSA Principles

1. Guilty Until Proven Innocent
2. Zero-Privacy Policy
3. Focus
4. Be Thorough
5. Have Fun!!

Janet Tavakoli on Bank Foreclosure Fraud

Friday, November 19, 2010

Invasion of privacy at Logan

Invasion of privacy
The TSA search policy is unwarranted, unjust, and humiliating
By TOM KEANE

I have never been sexually molested or raped, so I have no idea how my experience compares. But I walked away feeling invaded, sickened, and humiliated. During the long drive after I landed, those three minutes kept obsessively turning over in my mind. Late that night, in a strange hotel room, I suddenly woke with the panicked belief that rough hands were prodding my body. That time, it was only a dream.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/11/19/invasion_of_privacy/

Don't Touch My Junk (the TSA Hustle) song + video by Michael Adams

FIRST, THEY CAME FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN...

FIRST, THEY CAME FOR OTHER PEOPLE'S CHILDREN...

Regular readers know what I think and how I feel about the war on drugs. I think the Fourth Amendment has been systematically violated, and the violations go a lot further than mere illegal searches of drug suspects. They seek legal power to test saliva of all stopped motorists, and they already have power to invade the medical records of millions. Other than crank out these inadequate rants, I can't do much about any of this, as it's part and parcel of the war on drugs.

But fortunately (and I hate using that word in an awful case like this) when an innocent pregnant woman has her baby taken away because she ate a poppy seed bagel, that makes ordinary people ask questions


http://www.classicalvalues.com/archives/2010/11/first_they_came_4.html

TSA Humiliation Of The Day

Cancer surviving flight attendant forced to remove implant during pat-down
By Molly Grantham

CHARLOTTE, NC (WBTV) - A local flight attendant and cancer survivor contacted WBTV after she says she was forced to show her prosthetic breast during a pat-down.


http://www.wbtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13534628

---
Enhanced pat down leaves Grand Rapids airline passenger in tears
Phil Dawson Christa Graban

GRAND RAPIDS (WZZM) - Before boarding a flight in Grand Rapids, a woman says the search at the security checkpoint was violent, unnecessary and extremely upsetting




http://www.wzzm13.com/news/news_story.aspx?storyid=140233&catid=14

TSA's Nude Scanners, Former Homeland Security Head Chertoff, and How Our Government Works

TSA's Nude Scanners, Former Homeland Security Head Chertoff, and How Our Government Works
WC Varones

How our government works:
1) Get a position in the government.
2) Hype up some scare and advocate a solution to it
3) Sell/convince the government on your proposed solution, leave your government position, and partner up with the company that provides that same solution.
4) Sit back and enjoy your new money.


http://www.wcvarones.com/2010/11/tsas-nude-scanners-former-homeland.html

Why Can't Chuck Get His Business Off The Ground?

Drs. Ron and Rand Paul on Freedom Watch 11/13/10

When people stop believing in God they start believing in Big Government and Obamaism

When people stop believing in God they start believing in Big Government and Obamaism
By Ed West

A new study has found that belief in a God may be inversely correlated to belief in Government.


http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/edwest/100062966/when-people-stop-believing-in-god-they-start-believing-in-big-government-and-obamaism/

Thursday, November 18, 2010

NH Grandma groped by TSA blasts ‘invasive’ body search

NH Grandma groped by TSA blasts ‘invasive’ body search
By Elizabeth Dinan / Portsmouth Herald

Diane Bitter said she was passing through Manchester Airport en route to Arizona last Friday when her pants zippers triggered a metal detector.

...

“She touched my private parts,” said Bitter.

Pressed for details, the 67-year-old Rye Beach resident said the airport employee put her hands inside the waistband of her pants, felt around her waist, passed her hands over both her breasts, and rubbed her hands up and down the insides of her legs - “twice in front and twice in back.”

As it got more invasive, I thought, ‘why am I consenting to this?’” she said. “It was totally humiliating.”


http://www.bostonherald.com/news/national/northeast/view/20101118nh_grandma_groped_by_tsa_blasts_invasive_body_search/srvc=home&position=recent

TSA pat-down pushback: Sacramento traveler outraged over 'hands on' treatment

TSA pat-down pushback: Sacramento traveler outraged over 'hands on' treatment

"They should not be able to touch your genitalia, for goodness sake," she said.


http://www.news10.net/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=106481&catid=2

Ohio Woman Describes Sexual Assault By TSA Agent




TSA's 'Love Pats'

NORCAL STUDENT GETS SPECIAL FLAG ESCORT TO SCHOOL ‎



http://www.breitbart.tv/norcal-student-gets-special-flag-escort-to-school/

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

TSA Pat Down = Police Custody Search

Have we been taken into custody when we pass through TSA's security zone? Apparently so, as leaving the zone without completing the check involves facing an $11k fine and prosecution.

What is a custody search? It is the aggressive frisk police utilize on subjects being taken into custody and are suspected of having weapons.

Senators and TSA Defend "Love Pats" at Airports

Senators and TSA Defend "Love Pats" at Airports

Transportation Safety Administration chief John Pistole and several senators from both parties defended the new, enhanced airport security screening procedures.

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/11/17/national/main7063414.shtml

When's the next election? It's going to be a long two years.

Food Safety: URGENT: Stop the FDA Takeover of Your Food Supply

Food Safety: URGENT: Stop the FDA Takeover of Your Food Supply

S.510, the fraudulently-named "Food Safety" bill, is scheduled for a cloture vote TODAY!

We want this bill defeated, but we also have a Plan B. Amendments proposed by Senators Tester and Hagan would allay many (although not all) of our concerns with the bill. Their amendments will exempt small farms and businesses from the most onerous regulations.


http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/food-safety-urgent-stop-the-fda-takeover-of-your-food-supply?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+DownsizeDCorg+(DownsizeDC.org+-+DC+vs.+Innovation)

What Happens if You Decline a Full Body Scan?

What Happens if You Decline a Full Body Scan?
by Fran Golden

When you ask a friend to join you for a nice weekend cruise from Miami, you don't expect the friend to be hauled away by Transportation Security Administration (TSA) agents into a private room where she says she was practically strip-searched. But that's what happened at Logan International Airport in Boston.


http://news.travel.aol.com/2010/11/15/what-happens-if-you-decline-a-full-body-scan/

NH woman challenges airport full-body scanners

NH woman challenges airport full-body scanners

Just as the busy holiday travel season is starting up, a New Hampshire woman has a warning to anyone who's flying.

She says her experience with those new full body scanners at the airport security line was frightening and humiliating.




http://www.necn.com/pages/landing?blockID=352618&tagID=72158

Fmr Asst TSA Admin - checkpoints violate 4th amendment

Quantitative Easing 2 - Hidden Taxation

Quantitative Easing 1 - 55% Tax (2008 - 2009)
Quantitative Easing 2 - 20% Tax (2010 - 2011)

What Worries Jeremy Grantham Most Is ...


Pilots and passengers rail at new airport patdowns

Pilots and passengers rail at new airport patdowns
By Jeremy Pelofsky

"We spend my child's whole life telling him that only mom, dad and a doctor can touch you in your private area, and now we have to add TSA agent and that's just wrong," he told Reuters. "At some point the terrorists have won."


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6AA55S20101111

Are Actual Strip Searches Next For the TSA?

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

TSA - Sexual Assault

TSA - Sexual Assault

Another victim of the "enhanced" pat-down procedure:

“Remove your shoes and stand on that black mat for a patdown.”

I said, “OK, what do I do with the baby?”

“You cannot be holding him.” (I am traveling alone.)

So I placed him into his stroller. She instructed me, “Spread your feet apart and hold your arms out to the side.” I obliged.

She patted my left arm, my right arm, my upper back and my lower back. She then said, “I need to reach in and feel along the inside of your waistband.”

She felt along my waistline, moved behind me, then proceeded to feel both of my buttocks. She reached from behind in the middle of my buttocks towards my vagina area.

She did not tell me that she was going to touch my buttocks, or reach forward to my vagina area.

She then moved in front of my and touched the top and underneath portions of both of my breasts.

She did not tell me that she was going to touch my breasts.

She then felt around my waist. She then moved to the bottoms of my legs.

She then felt my inner thighs and my vagina area, touching both of my labia.

She did not tell me that she was going to touch my vagina area or my labia.

She then told me that I could put my shoes on and I asked if I could pick up the baby, she replied Yes.

She then moved back to my belongings to finish scanning them with the paper discs for explosives. When she finished she said I was free to go.

I stood there holding my baby in shock. I did not move for almost a minute.

I stood there, an American citizen, a mom traveling with a baby with special needs formula, sexually assaulted by a government official. I began shaking and felt completely violated, abused and assaulted by the TSA agent. I shook for several hours, and woke up the next day shaking.


http://www.ourlittlechatterboxes.com/2010/11/tsa-sexual-assault.html

---
Additional Comment:

One Hundred Naked Citizens: One Hundred Leaked Body Scans

One Hundred Naked Citizens: One Hundred Leaked Body Scans

http://gizmodo.com/5690749/

Colbert Report - TSA Full-Body Scanners and Jeffrey Goldberg

Monday, November 15, 2010

Bachmann: 111 waivers means ObamaCare is a failure



http://hotair.com/archives/2010/11/15/bachmann-111-waivers-means-obamacare-is-a-failure/

See Me, Feel Me

Abolish the TSA

Full Frontal Nudity Doesn’t Make Us Safer: Abolish the TSA
Art Carden

http://blogs.forbes.com/artcarden/2010/11/14/full-frontal-nudity-doesnt-make-us-safer-abolish-the-tsa/

Get the Government Out of Our Pants

Get the Government Out of Our Pants
By Steve Chapman

When it comes to protecting against terrorism, this is how things usually go: A danger presents itself. The federal government responds with new rules that erode privacy, treat innocent people as suspicious and blur the distinction between life in a free society and life in a correctional facility. And we all tamely accept the new intrusions, like sheep being shorn.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2010/11/14/get_the_government_out_of_our_pants_107944.html

Man Threatened with $10,000 Fine and Lawsuit After Refusing TSA Grope



http://gawker.com/5689925/man-threatened-with-10000-fine-after-refusing-tsa-grope

Invasion of the body patters

Invasion of the body patters
By Jack Lewis

So there he was, six positions back in the "first cut" line. Everyone was being diverted to the new full-body scanners, which scared Xavier even more. The Estados Unidos government claimed the machines could not hurt travelers, but that was the same government that retaliated against a Saudi terrorist hiding in Pakistan by invading Iraq. Xavier found himself unpersuaded.


http://blog.seattlepi.com/jacklewis/archives/228163.asp

The State of the 'Obamacare' Challenges

TSA pulls pants off 71 y/o man with knee implant

Christianity in Israel

Backlash grows over TSA's 'naked strip searches'

Backlash grows over TSA's 'naked strip searches'
by Declan McCullagh

"The pat-downs never used to go up a woman's skirt."


These aren't just being used at airports:

Another federal agency, the Marshals Service, has acknowledged (PDF) that tens of thousands of images from a Brijot Gen2 machine were stored from just one courthouse checkpoint.


What about the radiation?

Biochemistry faculty members at the University of California at San Francisco have written the White House saying the X-ray "dose to the skin may be dangerously high."


Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-31921_3-20022477-281.html

Growing anxiety over airport pat-downs and scanners

Growing anxiety over airport pat-downs and scanners
By Linda Loyd
Inquirer Staff Writer

one US Airways pilot who went through a pat-down had his "genitals grabbed repeatedly" and was "highly traumatized. When I was talking to him on the phone a few days later, he told me that he had just thrown up in his driveway. He was so worried about going to work. This particular fellow has two hip replacements, and so he cannot go through the backscatter machine [the full-body scanner]."

"We're telling pilots, 'Don't go through the machines anyway because of the health risks,' " Cleary said. "But, in this instance, he can't go through them. He knows that he's going to be subjected to pat-downs for the rest of his career, and the prospect of it is making him sick to his stomach."


http://www.philly.com/inquirer/business/20101111_Growing_anxiety_over_airport_pat-downs_and_scanners.html

Don’t Let Strip-and-Grope Become the New Normal

Don’t Let Strip-and-Grope Become the New Normal
by Scott Ott
The TSA wants you to assume the position and fly the little too friendly skies. (Watch a PJTV interview with pilot Michael Roberts, and a Trifecta episode on this topic.)

The middle-aged man in the blue shirt spoke gently, but directly, to Tabitha, as if he had done this a thousand times before with 12-year-old girls like her. In words tailored to her understanding, and designed to make what he was about to do seem normal, not creepy, the man in the blue shirt made it clear that if she didn’t do as he instructed she would not get to go to Disneyland. He merely wanted to show another man what was under Tabitha’s blouse and panties.


http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/dont-let-strip-and-grope-become-the-new-normal/?singlepage=true

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Northern N.H. new brand is grand

Northern N.H. new brand is grand
Posted by Paul Kandarian

A neat component is the site’s “Grand Adventures" that include a variety of cold-weather offerings. Consider dog sledding, utilizing Muddy Paw Sled Dog Kennel and White Mountain Sled Dog Adventures, allowing you to mush your way over the river and through the woods of Bethlehem and Bretton Woods.


http://www.boston.com/travel/blog/2010/11/northern_nh_new.html

Jamie Dimon And Bob Rubin Dodged Questions On Foreclosure Fraud

Jamie Dimon And Bob Rubin Dodged Questions On Foreclosure Fraud
Janet Tavakoli, Tavakoli Structured Finance

Foreclosure fraud isn't about losing paperwork or having incorrect paperwork. It is about committing fraud and trying to manipulate the U.S. legal system. No one--not even a bank--can show up in court with phony evidence.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/dimon-rubin-dodged-questions-on-foreclosure-fraud-2010-11

Quantitative Easing Explained

Friday, November 12, 2010

TSA To Vote On Whether or Not to Unionize

FLRA Accepts AFGE Petition for Union Election at TSA
The Federal Labor Relations Authority today accepted the petition from the American Federation of Government Employees to hold a union election at the Transportation Security Administration.

Read more: http://www.centredaily.com/2010/11/12/2336886/flra-accepts-afge-petition-for.html


Big Sis Forced To Respond To Nationwide Revolt Against TSA
The Reuters article mentions the example of a father who witnessed his 8-year-old son be selected for “extra screening” by TSA thugs, who proceeded to touch the boy’s genitals.
“We spend my child’s whole life telling him that only mom, dad and a doctor can touch you in your private area, and now we have to add TSA agent and that’s just wrong,” he told Reuters. “At some point the terrorists have won.”


Local man claims TSA pat-down went too far

TSA and Making Light of Child Body Cavity Searches




The background is a cover of a fake book called "My First Cavity Search: Helping your child understand why he may pose a threat to National Security. Ages 6 and up". This was reportedly a photo of the TSA booth by the security check-in point at Indianapolis International Airport.

What is a matter with these people? Is it time to abolish the TSA already?

Source: Gizmodo
http://gizmodo.com/5688087/the-tsas-sense-of-humor-makes-me-nervous

Ohio GMAC Foreclosure Case May Set Anti-Wall Street Precedent

Ohio GMAC Foreclosure Case May Set Anti-Wall Street Precedent
By Michael Riley

“If courts around the country do not handle this on an individual case basis and there are later problems with the title, the courts will have participated with the clouding of the title,” [Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas Judge Nancy] Russo said. “The potential for harm is so immense at so many levels.”


http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-08/ohio-gmac-foreclosure-case-may-set-a-precedent-for-punishing-wall-street.html

Flier Patience Wears Thin at Checkpoints

Flier Patience Wears Thin at Checkpoints
SUSAN STELLIN

Specifically, they point to the new body scanners that are replacing metal detectors — which have raised privacy and health concerns, as well as prompted legal challenges — and the more invasive pat-downs, which have set off complaints about disrespectful treatment by agents.

“I think people want to say enough is enough, but they’re worried that they’re going to be perceived as weak on security,” Mr. Freeman said.


http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20101109/ZNYT01/11093009/2055/NEWS?p=all&tc=pgall

Pregnant Traveler: TSA Screeners Bullied Me Into Full-Body Scan

Pregnant Traveler: TSA Screeners Bullied Me Into Full-Body Scan
By Chris Morran

They repeated again for me to just go through the scanner and it would be done in 5 seconds. I was literally in tears because I wanted a pat-down instead of going through the machine, and I felt they declined me that option. No matter how much I pushed for a hand pat-down, they pushed harder for the machine.


http://consumerist.com/2010/09/pregnant-traveler-tsa-screeners-bullied-me-into-full-body-scan.html

FDIC prepares to crack down on officials of failed banks

FDIC prepares to crack down on officials of failed banks
By E. Scott Reckard

Dozens of former officers and directors are advised to work out settlements or face legal action for their alleged misdeeds during the financial crisis.


http://articles.latimes.com/print/2010/nov/10/business/la-fi-fdic-lawsuits-20101111

Ron Paul on Bernanke's 65% Tax












Global anger swells at U.S. Fed actions

Global anger swells at U.S. Fed actions
By Glenn Somerville and Zhou Xin

* China tells U.S. trade targets smack of central planning

* German finance minister says Fed policy "clueless"

* China tells U.S. trade targets smack of central planning

* Merkel to address U.S. money policy at G20 summit


http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTOE6A403Y20101105

Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’

Palin to Bernanke: ‘Cease and Desist’
By Robert Costa

And where, you may ask, are we getting the money to pay for all this? We’re printing it out of thin air.


http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/252715/palin-bernanke-cease-and-desist-robert-costa

The Federal Reserve as Serial Arsonists

The Federal Reserve as Serial Arsonists
by Chriss W. Street

http://biggovernment.com/cstreet/2010/11/09/the-federal-reserve-as-serial-arsonists/

Greenspan's Comments on Criminal Activity in the Financial Sector

Debunking White House Pro-Tax Increase Propaganda

Limitation of Central Planning Foresight

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Flight attendants union upset over new pat-down procedures

A flight attendants union with 2,000 members is upset over what it calls "invasive pat-downs" recently implemented by the TSA.



Contact with genitals? Hello!

Colbert Report - TSA, Bert & Dogs

Striking the balance between marginally safer travel and total humiliation.

N.H. Supreme Court rejects Manchester effort to cap taxes, spending

Supreme Court rejects Manchester effort to cap taxes, spending
By TOM FAHEY

http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?articleId=3b19bbae-c5a8-4d56-938c-2b7798f04b39&headline=Supreme+Court+rejects+Manchester+effort+to+cap+taxes,+spending

Bombs kill six Baghdad Christians, sow panic

Bombs kill six Baghdad Christians, sow panic
By Marwa Sabah (AFP)

An estimated 800,000 Christians lived in Iraq before the US-led invasion but that number has since shrunk to around 500,000 in the face of repeated attacks against their community and churches.


http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5isS9GysXyBXINAgZIRVaFLNo6e2g?docId=CNG.6e747f6b0485e74fd719f1dad112b33a.a41

Coffee, Tea, or Should We Feel Your Pregnant Wife’s Breasts Before Throwing You in a Cell at the Airport and Then Lying About Why We Put You There?

Coffee, Tea, or Should We Feel Your Pregnant Wife’s Breasts Before Throwing You in a Cell at the Airport and Then Lying About Why We Put You There?
by Nicholas Monahan

At the security checkpoint I was led aside for the "inspection" that’s all the rage at airports these days. My shoes were removed. I was told to take off my sweater, then to fold over the waistband of my pants. My baseball hat, hastily jammed on my head at 5 AM, was removed and assiduously examined ("Anything could be in here, sir," I was told, after I asked what I could hide in a baseball hat. Yeah. Anything.) Soon I was standing on one foot, my arms stretched out, the other leg sticking out in front of me à la a DUI test. I began to get pissed off, as most normal people would. My anger increased when I realized that the newly knighted federal employees weren’t just examining me, but my 7½ months pregnant wife as well. I’d originally thought that I’d simply been randomly selected for the more excessive than normal search. You know, Number 50 or whatever. Apparently not though – it was both of us. These are your new threats, America: pregnant accountants and their sleepy husbands flying to weddings.

After some more grumbling on my part they eventually finished with me and I went to retrieve our luggage from the x-ray machine. Upon returning I found my wife sitting in a chair, crying. Mary rarely cries, and certainly not in public. When I asked her what was the matter, she tried to quell her tears and sobbed, "I’m sorry...it’s...they touched my breasts...and..." That’s all I heard. I marched up to the woman who’d been examining her and shouted, "What did you do to her?" Later I found out that in addition to touching her swollen breasts – to protect the American citizenry – the employee had asked that she lift up her shirt. Not behind a screen, not off to the side – no, right there, directly in front of the hundred or so passengers standing in line. And for you women who’ve been pregnant and worn maternity pants, you know how ridiculous those things look. "I felt like a clown," my wife told me later. "On display for all these people, with the cotton panel on my pants and my stomach sticking out. When I sat down I just lost my composure and began to cry. That’s when you walked up."


http://www.lewrockwell.com/orig3/monahan1.html

TSA Forces Mother in Wheelchair to Tears with "Enhanced Patdown" Portland

The TSA: making sex workers obsolete

The TSA: making sex workers obsolete
J. Doug Gill

And now, much like when patronizing a house of ill repute, the customer boarding an airplane can choose which government employee can palm their package


http://www.examiner.com/strange-news-in-national/the-tsa-making-sex-workers-obsolete

Monday, November 8, 2010

US slopes do skiers a powder of good ...

US slopes do skiers a powder of good ...
By Alison O'Riordan

With plenty of activities for the non-skier, the area is perfect for families in which one or two members do not want to hit the slopes. Instead, for instance, they can take part in a 300-year-old ritual, maple tapping, which is an art form in this part of the world. Maple producers have a six-week period to tap their trees and it coincides with the last few weeks of the ski season. Nigel Manley came from England 20 years ago to help save the maple forests. He now shows people how to tap for maple syrup at the Maple Museum on the Rocks Estate in Bethlehem.


http://www.independent.ie/travel/winter-holidays/us-slopes-do-skiers-a-powder-of-good-2410854.html

EPIC Files Lawsuit To Suspend Airport Naked Body Scanner Use

EPIC v. DHS (Suspension of Body Scanner Program)
http://epic.org/privacy/body_scanners/epic_v_dhs_suspension_of_body.html


EPIC Files Lawsuit To Suspend Airport Body Scanner Use
http://news.slashdot.org/story/10/11/05/158250/EPIC-Files-Lawsuit-To-Suspend-Airport-Body-Scanner-Use

Federal Reserve: Changing the Ruler

America's greatest export is Federal Reserve Notes. Say goodbye to low consumer prices.

Friday, November 5, 2010

Thursday, November 4, 2010

For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance

For the First Time, the TSA Meets Resistance
By Jeffrey Goldberg

At BWI, I told the officer who directed me to the back-scatter that I preferred a pat-down. ... When I made this request, a number of TSA officers, to my surprise, began laughing. I asked why. One of them -- the one who would eventually conduct my pat-down -- said that the rules were changing shortly, and that I would soon understand why the back-scatter was preferable to the manual search.


http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/10/for-the-first-time-the-tsa-meets-resistance/65390/

'Are Any Parts of Your Body Sore?' Asks the Man From TSA

'Are Any Parts of Your Body Sore?' Asks the Man From TSA
By Jeffrey Goldberg

"The guidelines have changed, just to warn you. We now have to run our hands through your groin until we meet --"

...

I give him several more answers than he expected:
1) I prefer to limit my exposure to radiation, which the back-scatter imager produces;
2) I don't think this new technology will stop terrorism;
3) I find the idea of the government taking pictures of my genitalia a discomfiting invasion of privacy;
4) I find the specific pose a person is forced to take inside the machine -- hands up, as in a mugging -- particularly debasing.


http://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2010/11/-are-any-parts-of-your-body-sore-asks-the-man-from-tsa/65482/

The TSA vs. Mankind

The TSA vs. Mankind
by Lew Rockwell

A great man had to go through his first invasive pat-down at the airport the other day, since his knee replacements bar him from the naked x-ray machine. This is a the kindest, most well-mannered man I know, but after four very hard jabs to his genitals, he asked the federal agent: “How can you live with yourself, feeling up men all day?” “I love my job,” sneered the goon.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/blog/lewrw/archives/68445.html

Memos Detail TSA Officer's Cocaine Pranks

Memos Detail TSA Officer's Cocaine Pranks

Worker falsely claimed to have found drugs in passenger luggage


http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documents/stupid/memos-detail-tsa-officers-cocaine-pranks

State Bailouts? They've Already Begun

State Bailouts? They've Already Begun
Bond subsidies and transfers have allowed states to avoid making tough decisions. It won't last.
By MEREDITH WHITNEY

The threat posed by the state fiscal crisis in the U.S. is vastly underestimated and under-appreciated—because even today too few people understand how states have been managing their finances.


http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304173704575578203887408076.html

Wednesday, November 3, 2010

Federal Reserve Announces Plan To Continue Funding Its Hedge Fund "like" Activities By Devaluing the Dollar

QUANTITATIVE EASING OFFICIALLY BEGINS WITH $600 BILLION IN TREASURY PURCHASES

The breakdown:
Currently, the monetary base is $2,003,117,000,000.00 dollars (two trillion, roughly). In eight months, it'll be roughly $2,600,000,000,000.00 dollars (two trillion, six hundred billion). This is an expansion of the denominator of the worth of a dollar. So, in eight months, one dollar will be equal to $2,003,117,000,000.00 divided by $2,600,000,000,000.00. Which is 0.7693.

To put it another way, in eight months, the dollar will be 23.1% worth less.

Of course, this just adds to the insult that they already increased the monetary base from 900B to 2T in 2008. So, if you divide $900,000,000,000.00 by $2,600,000,000,000.00, then in eight months, a dollar will be worth 34.6% of its 2008 value.

In other words, since 2008, the Central Bank of the United States has exacted a 65% tax on all greenback users, and against all asset classes, to cover for the crimes of the financial sector. All done without representation.

Meet The New Face Of The Democratic Party

Meet The New Face Of The Democratic Party
http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/11/meet-new-face-of-democratic-party.html

Mid-Term Elections

Elections 2010
Union Leader

Senate Vote Tally for Bethlehem
Hodes 421
Ayotte 445
Blevens 10
Booth 17

Governor Vote Tally for Bethlehem
Lynch 506
Stephen 371
Babiarz 21

CD2 Congressional Tally for Bethlehem
Kuster 458
Bass 384
vnBlmm 19
Wilson 20

Also, Huge swing gives GOP a NH Senate majority

Results, etc: http://www.unionleader.com/politics.aspx/politics?channel=872fe89b7fe84644be19cd3fc9bdf6ae



Robert Shiller Sees More Housing Pain Ahead

Robert Shiller Sees More Housing Pain Ahead
By Jennifer Schonberger

The Yale economist who called the housing bubble says foreclosure-gate is sapping confidence and more home price declines are likely.


http://www.kiplinger.com/columns/dekaser-practical-economics/archives/robert-shiller-shares-his-view-on-the-housing-market.html

Now, About Governing.....

Now, About Governing.....
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=171097

This the price we are paying for not prosecuting fraud, theft and graft.

Percent of Jobs Lost Since 2007




http://cr4re.com/charts/charts.html?Employment#category=Employment&chart=EmploymentRecessions.jpg

Iowans dismiss three justices who backed homosexual marriage

Iowans dismiss three justices who backed homosexual marriage
By Grant Schulte, USA TODAY

Three Iowa Supreme Court justices lost their seats Tuesday in a historic upset fueled by their 2009 decision that allowed same-sex couples to marry.


http://www.usatoday.com/news/politics/2010-11-03-gay-marriage-iowa-election_N.htm

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

John Lynch: Economic undertaker of the North Country

Brien Ward: John Lynch: Economic undertaker of the North Country
By BRIEN WARD

GOV. JOHN LYNCH has taken political credit for a plant expansion in Rochester. Fair Enough. He should also take credit and be held accountable for the nine plant closings that have occurred in the North Country since he was elected governor in 2004
...
During his six years as governor he hasn’t opened a single plant in the North Country that has survived. Zip. Zero. Nada!


http://www.unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Brien+Ward:+John+Lynch:+Economic+undertaker+of+the+North+Country&articleId=f29d08a4-8385-41ff-b890-018c6a787534

Prepare To Be Betrayed

Prepare To Be Betrayed
by Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.
The larger problem occurs once they take office. Here is where the serious problems begin. They are leaned on by their new colleagues, the party elites, related financial interests, the press, and the entire system of which they are now part. Are they going to make themselves enemies of that system, or are they going to work within the system in order to achieve reform, and not just for one term but more terms down the line? Doing a good job means being part of the structure; doing a bad job means being an enemy of the very system that they now serve.

Which choice do they make? The same choice that everyone else in office makes (Ron Paul being the lone exception in all of human history). It is for this reason that newly seated "revolutionary" politicians will betray those who put them in power. It happens like clockwork, same as day turns to night.


http://www.lewrockwell.com/rockwell/prepare-for-betrayal155.html

The Partisans: Is Obama A Keynesian? Rally For Sanity, 10/30/10



Wiki: Keynesian

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_23Nt5XumaU&feature=player_embedded

Monday, November 1, 2010

For me autumn is a time of new beginnings

For me autumn is a time of new beginnings
Dianne Newcomer; thenewsstar.com

By early evening, we had arrived at the Adair Inn, Bethlehem, N.H., which was going to be our base of operation for two nights. The plan was to capitalize on this great location and day-trip out while allowing sufficient time for long strolls and hikes in the late afternoon on the grounds of this extraordinary New England bed and breakfast.


http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20101031/LIFESTYLE/10290338

 

 

Recently ...

 


 

GraniteGrok

NH Tea Party Coalition

Days at Mt. Prospect

The Tea Party Economist

The American Conservative

Le·gal In·sur·rec·tion - William A. Jacobson

Michelle Malkin

Fraud, What Fraud?

Trains, Planes and the TSA

 

Big Government

Intolerable Consent

Opinion & Analysis

HSLDA | Top Stories

Serious Medicine Strategy

Big Peace

Climate Depot

AccuWeather.com Climate Change

Observations From Elsewhere