GOPDD: Obama on Obamacare: “We did raise taxes on some things” even though we promised taxes wouldn’t go up.

By Amy

via atr
During his Tuesday remarks at the Clinton Global Initiative, President Obama admitted that his health care law raises taxes: “So what we did — it’s paid for by a combination of things. We did raise taxes on some things.”

“Some things” is an understatement. Below is just a partial list of Obamacare’s new or higher taxes on Americans.Starting in tax year 2013:

Obamacare Medical Device Tax: Medical device manufacturers employ 409,000 people in 12,000 plants across the country. Obamacare imposes a new 2.3 percent excise tax on gross sales – even if the company does not earn a profit in a given year. In addition to killing small business jobs and impacting research and development budgets, this will make everything from pacemakers to artificial hips more expensive.

Obamacare High Medical Bills Tax: Before Obamacare, Americans facing high medical expenses were allowed a deduction to the extent that those expenses exceeded 7.5 percent of adjusted gross income (AGI). Obamacare now imposes a threshold of 10 percent of AGI. Therefore, Obamacare not only makes it more difficult to claim this deduction, it widens the net of taxable income.

According to the IRS, 10 million families took advantage of this tax deduction in 2009, the latest year of available data. Almost all are middle class. The average taxpayer claiming this deduction earned just over $53,000 annually. ATR estimates that the average income tax increase for the average family claiming this tax benefit will be $200 – $400 per year. To learn more about this tax, click here.

Obamacare Flexible Spending Account Tax: The 30 – 35 million Americans who use a pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) at work to pay for their family’s basic medical needs face a new Obamacare cap of $2,500. This will squeeze $13 billion of tax money from Americans over the next ten years. (Before Obamacare, the accounts were unlimited under federal law, though employers were allowed to set a cap.) Now, a parent looking to sock away extra money to pay for braces will find themselves quickly hitting this new cap, meaning they would have to pony up some or all of the cost with after-tax dollars.

Needless to say, this tax will especially impact middle class families.

There is one group of FSA owners for whom this new cap will be particularly cruel and onerous: parents of special needs children. Nationwide there are several million families with special needs children and many of them use FSAs to pay for special needs education. Tuition rates at one leading school that teaches special needs children in Washington, D.C. (National Child Research Center) can easily exceed $14,000 per year. Under tax rules, FSA dollars can be used to pay for this type of special needs education. This Obamacare tax provision will limit the options available to these families.

Obamacare Super Saver Surtax: A new, 3.8 percent surtax on investment income earned in households making at least $250,000 ($200,000 single). This tax hike results in the following top tax rates on investment income

GOPDD: Senate Website Gets Second Amendment Wrong

By Amy

(Breitbart) A Senate.gov web page covering the Constitution gets the scope of the Second Amendment wrong, telling readers that it is not clear whether the amendment protects an individual right or a collective right.

Here is what the Senate’s web page on the Constitution says about the Second Amendment: “Whether this provision protects the individual’s right to own firearms or whether it deals only with the collective right of the people to arm and maintain a militia has long been debated.”
This is simply not true on at least two levels.

Number one, the scope of the Second Amendment has not been seriously questioned until Alisky-minded radicals isolated it from among the other amendments in the Bill of Rights and began attacking it. Before that it was taken for granted that the scope of the Second Amendment was the same as the scope of the First, Third, Fourth, Fifth, and so on.

Remember, the Bill of Rights protects individual, “unalienable rights” with which we were “endowed” by our Creator.

Secondly, and confirming these things, the Supreme Court has ruled that the Second Amendment is an individual right twice in the last five years.

In District of Columbia v. Heller (2008) they ruled: “The Second Amendment protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia.” In McDonald v. Chicago (2010) Associate Justice Samuel Alito referenced the Heller decision to make the same point in a different but equally clear manner: “In Heller, we held that individual self-defense is ‘the central component’ of the Second Amendment right.”

How is that Wikipedia has incorporated the Supreme Court’s 2008 ruling that the Second Amendment protects an individual right but a U.S. Senate website has not?

GOPDD: Lawmaker ‘confident’ CIA gagging employee

by Amy

via wnd WASHINGTON — It’s not everyday the CIA effectively calls a member of Congress a liar, especially a veteran who is so well-respected on both sides of the aisle. But Rep. Frank Wolf, R-Va., isn’t backing down and is too seasoned to be intimidated. He is standing by his comment that a CIA employee […]

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Lies, Lies, Lies: WorldNetDaily Exclusive Hawaii official now swears: No Obama birth certificate

Over two years ago this was blasted to the world but yet nothing has happened.  A travesty of Justice has been thrust upon the American people and the Apple Pie has been Poisoned. We are Broke, have tired Troops, Courting another War, Economy is Non Existent, Fuel Prices are Sky High, D.C. Beltway politico hacks are brain dead and mid term elections are just around the corner. The Main Stream Media Lies Like a Rug. We can't secure nor take care of problems in OUR own Country yet we dictate to others and give Billions of American Tax Dollars to Country's That Hate Us.  So How Much More Can The American People Take?

Signs affidavit declaring long-form, hospital-generated document absent

  Jerome R. Corsi

 Former Hawaii elections clerk Tim Adams has now signed an affidavit swearing he was told by his supervisors in Hawaii that no long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate existed for Barack Obama Jr. in Hawaii and that neither Queens Medical Center nor Kapi’olani Medical Center in Honolulu had any record of Obama having been born in their medical facilities.

Adams was employed at the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division from May 2008 through September 2008.

His position was senior elections clerk, overseeing a group of 50 to 60 employees responsible for verifying the identity of voters at the Absentee Ballot Office. It was in this capacity that Adams became aware of the search for Obama’s birth-certificate records.

See the movie Obama does not want you to see: Own the DVD that probes this unprecedented presidential-eligibility mystery!

“During the course of my employment,” Adams swears in the affidavit (viewable in full as part 1 and part 2), “I became aware that many requests were being made to the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division, the Hawaii Office of Elections, and the Hawaii Department of Health from around the country to obtain a copy of then-Senator Barack Obama’s long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate.”

As he inquired about the birth certificate, he says, his supervisors told him that the records were not on file at the Hawaii Department of Health.

“Senior officers in the City and County of Honolulu Elections Division told me on multiple occasions that no Hawaii long-form, hospital-generated birth certificate existed for Senator Obama in the Hawaii Department of Health,” Adams’ affidavit reads, “and there was no record that any such document had ever been on file in the Hawaii Department of Health or any other branch or department of the Hawaii government.”

You Must Read More Here:  http://www.wnd.com/2011/01/254401/

Democrats Out Stumping For Campaign Money While American Citizens Are Getting Shot: CHICAGO WAR ZONE: 20 SHOT, 5 DEAD SINCE FRIDAY, GOVERNOR MULLS NATIONAL GUARD

 Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel

by clyde

Breitbart is reporting that deadly violence has continued to rage on in Chicago since Thursday night’s mass shooting that left 13 wounded, including a three-year old boy who was shot in the head. Between Friday and Sunday morning, there have been at least 20 more shot leaving five dead and 15 injured. Police shot one man wanted in connection with a burglary, as he allegedly tried to drive his car into a police car.

The ongoing epidemic has prompted Chicago media to question Governor Pat Quinn about the need for additional support for law enforcement. Quinn told reporters there have not been any specific conversations about the use of Illinois State Police or National Guard to assist Chicago Police however did say he is “open” to it.

“I think anyone who saw what happened in Cornell Park [Thursday’s mass shooting of 13] the other night was horrified by the violence. I live on the West Side of Chicago. It is an area that has been inflicted with violence, and we’ve got to protect the people,” Quinn said.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was traveling around the country, appearing on the Late Show and fundraising for Newark, New Jersey Mayor Corey Booker during last week’s string of violence. After releasing a statement about the Thursday’s massacre, Emanuel received strong criticism from his residents on the Mayor’s official Facebook page.

One resident said, “Mayor Emanuel, we need you to focus on Chicago and get off the world stage.”

Emanuel and Chicago Police Superintendent Garry McCarthy have continued to iterate Chicago murders have declined from 2012’s bloodbath year by 21%, while both continuing to for push for more gun restrictions to curb the ongoing “gun violence.”

Deonta Howard, the three-year old boy shot on Thursday night is said to be “recovering,” but will need some plastic surgery.

One south side Chicago resident told Breitbart News, the mass shooting occurred on a basketball court, “right underneath one the police crime monitor cameras.” He asked, “why haven’t the police released any of that footage, so people can help try to find the shooters?”

Chicago Police have not announced any arrests in that shooting.

 http://gopthedailydose.com/2013/09/23/chicago-war-zone-20-shot-5-dead-since-friday-governor-mulls-national-guard/

 http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/09/22/Chicago-War-Zone-20-shot-5-Dead-Since-Friday-Governor-Mulls-National-Guard

 We sincerely wish the wounded a chance to heal complication free and express our deepest of heartfelt condolences to the families of the deceased victims.

GOPDD: SEAL Team 6 Families’ Suspicions Of Obama Administration Grow: We Believe Someone Made A Deal With The Enemy

via patdalloard

Excerpted from WND: More than two years after President Obama reassured the father of a member of SEAL Team 6 that the government would look into the death of his son, the father is still waiting for a response, and his suspicions are growing.

On Aug. 9, 2011, Taliban forces were waiting for a Chinook helicopter carrying members of the elite unit SEAL Team 6 to approach its landing site. The helicopter was attacked from three sides in a coordinated ambush.

 

Although it was known Taliban forces were in the area, the SEALs did not have the air cover that was a standard procedure for missions of that type. During the ambush, the Chinook was reportedly shot down by a shoulder-fired missile, killing all 38 people on board, including 25 American special operations personnel, five U.S. Army National Guard and Army Reserve crewmen, a U.S. military dog, seven Afghan commandos and an Afghan interpreter.

Charles Strange, whose son Michael was killed in the ambush, said in a meeting with President Obama after the attack he whispered in the president’s ear to ask him if there would be a congressional investigation into the death of his son. Obama whispered back, “We will look very, very, very, deep into this.”

However, more than two years after the attack, the families are still waiting for answers, and they now have filed a lawsuit in an attempt to find out what happened. The lawsuit is being handled by Larry Klayman, the founder of Judicial Watch and now Freedom Watch, who is also a former U.S. Justice Department prosecutor.

The suit is asking for $200 million in damages against Joe Biden and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta for revealing that SEAL Team 6 carried out the operation that killed Osama bin Laden. Also named as defendants are the Islamic Republic of Iran, the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who is alleged to have tipped the Taliban off about the coordinates of the Extortion 17 operation.

Despite the amount of damages sought, Klayman says the issue is not about the money but rather to ensure that the rules of engagement and other events leading up to the ambush are changed to protect soldiers in the field.

‘We do want answers’

“While we do want answers, we also want the rules of engagement changed to ensure that their sons did not die in vain,” Klayman said. “The military and the administration should have known better. They should have known that SEAL Team 6 was a target because they made them a target.”

Among the current rules of engagement are orders not to fire unless specifically fire upon. The reasoning behind the order is that the military is there to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people.

The downing of the helicopter came just months after SEAL Team 6 conducted the raid that killed bin Laden. Normally, when operations of that nature are conducted, the identities of the units involved are kept classified for operational security. However, following the bin Laden raid, Vice President Joe Biden and the administration confirmed that SEAL Team 6 members had conducted the operation.

After the leaking of their identity by Biden, members of SEAL Team 6 became concerned for their safety and the safety of their family members.

Aaron Vaughn, a member of the team who would eventually be killed on that Aug. 6, warned his mother to delete every reference to SEAL Team 6 from her Facebook and Twitter accounts.

“I never heard Aaron this concerned and worried in his entire life,” Mrs. Vaughn said in an interview. “He called me and said, ‘Mom, you and Dad have to take everything down. Biden has just put a huge target on everybody.’”

Charles Strange said his son Michael, a Special Forces serviceman with the unit, also had premonitions about his impending death after Biden’s leak of their identity.

“Michael was home in June, and he talked to us, saying he was worried and felt he needed to update his will,” Strange said. “My son already had a will that was filled out long before this, so why would he suddenly bring it up again? It was almost as if he knew something was going to happen to him. They labeled those men; the question is, why did they do it?”

Several circumstances surrounding the crash also have raised disturbing questions for the family members.

Among their questions are why seven Afghan commandos on the flight suddenly were replaced just before takeoff. The seven individuals, who also died in the attack, are not listed in the flight manifest. This has caused some of the family members to speculate that they may have been suicide bombers or may have tipped off the Taliban.

Inside job?

When asked if they believed the attack possibly was an inside job, several family members responded in the affirmative.

Billy Vaughn, father of killed Navy SEAL Aaron Vaughn, told WND that “yes,” he believed it was an inside job.
Doug Hamburger, whose son Patrick was a flight engineer and gunner with the SEALs, said that at the very least, he believed Afghan president Hamid Karzai tipped off the Taliban.

Strange went even further, saying he believed there was collaboration between the U.S. and Afghan governments to shoot down the helicopter.

“I believe the Afghan administration and someone on their side definitely made a deal with somebody on our side. It says in the investigation report that back in May the military knew the Taliban was in that location with the intent of shooting down an American helicopter. Knowing this why were they sent in without air cover?”

The official explanation by the U.S. military is that the Chinook was struck by a shoulder-fired missile, which caused the helicopter to explode, burning everyone beyond recognition.

However, there are several things that have caused the family to doubt the official explanation that it was simply a “lucky shot,” as Army investigators declared.

“I don’t want to hear about it being a lucky shot, a lucky shot would’ve been a clean miss,” Strange said.

Following the ambush, the Army ordered the remains of everyone on the helicopter cremated, they were simply unrecognizable.

However, Michael Strange’s body apparently showed no sign of being burned by the explosion from the missile. His father obtained a copy of Michael’s autopsy report and photographs of his body and said there was no sign of fire damage.

“There’s nothing wrong with the body except for his ankle, but they claimed everybody was burned beyond recognition, yet there he was lying there whole and intact,” Strange said. “His hair and arms weren’t burned, and there was no sign of smoke in his lungs. When I called the command up and asked them about this they seem shocked that I had the photo. They told me ‘we’ll get back to you,’ but they never did.”

‘We’ll get back to you’

“Why did they cremate my boy? We are Christians and do not believe in cremation; there was no reason for them to do that,” Strange said.

Eyebrows also were raised when a Muslim imam was invited by the Obama administration to pray over the fallen soldiers. During the prayer, the imam reportedly recited a prayer from the Quran that damned the fallen warriors to hell for being infidels. The ceremony did not feature any similar prayer from a Christian chaplain.

Another strange occurrence about the ambush is that the evidence that would reveal how the helicopter was shot down has gone missing.

The Chinook’s black box never was recovered. The military claims a rare flash flood came through the area and washed the box away. However, aircraft black boxes are designed to take that kind of punishment and have even been recovered from the ocean floor.

Another piece of evidence missing is any recording of the explosion by an aerial drone in the area. Hamburger said the military provided the men involved in missions of that kind with a variety of assets in the air.

“When they go out on an operation like this, the military normally has a stack of protection above them that includes two Apache helicopters, a C-130 and a drone to help see what is going on. When the men of Extortion 17 flew into that valley, they did not have a stack over them.

“We were told, and it is in the official report that the ‘eye in the sky,’ meaning the camera on the drone, was inoperative during the time the Chinook was shot down,” Hamburger said. “Yet we have two soldiers, including one of my son’s friends, who told us they saw Extortion 17 get shot down from the cameras on that drone at one of the other forward operating bases. We would really like to see that footage and have it handed over to an expert who could analyze it to see the sequence of how the helicopter was exploded and what happened.”

Hamburger says even more amazingly, he was told the problem with the footage somehow resolved itself later during the ambush after the helicopter was shot down.

“We asked if the camera was not working why was the drone still in the area rather than being sent back to base. They told us the problem with the camera was not an ongoing issue, but was simply a glitch that happened at the exact time Extortion 17 was shot down.”

‘We don’t know what happened”

Klayman said while he understands tragic things happen in war, by refusing to answer legitimate questions by family members the government is acting like it has something to hide.

“Over two years after Extortion 17 was shot down, the families still have these unanswered questions. All of this raises the distinct possibility of a cover-up as to what really happened. We don’t know what happened and none of these answers are forthcoming.”

Hamburger said while any individual could be dismissed if taken alone, but together they suggest a cover-up.

“You sit there and add up the score and what you have is a case where the black box is missing, the eye in the sky is out, and there was no support aircraft in the area.

Everything you typically do for safety and to help out the helicopter and crew is non-existent. Additionally, all of the things you would need to take a look at what happened has disappeared. All you have is a downed aircraft and a bunch of dead soldiers.”

Rep. Jason Chaffetz, R-Utah, is among elected officials who are demanding answers. He and his subcommittee on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee are investigating the crash.

 http://gopthedailydose.com/2013/09/22/seal-team-6-families-suspicions-obama-administration-grow-believe-someone-made-deal-enemy/

How True This Rings for Lisbon; 'Justice Delayed is Justice Denied': Father Of Benghazi Victim: We Have No Justice, Very Few Truthful Answers About Benghazi

Where is the Missing $32,500?

Before you go buying "White Elephants" in Town you should clean-up the past CORRUPTION Scandals.

Were The Taxpayers' Concerns Ever Considered During The Town Council Meeting? Dé·jà vu

                             

                           LISBON’S COMEDY HOUR

At last night’s town council meeting, a lot of critical information was released.  All of it was hysterical to say the least.

 

 Lisbon Council Vice-Chairman Lisa Ward

 Town Attorney Roger Therriault

The first revealing information comes to us from Councilor Ward.  She informed everyone that the Town Attorney, Roger Therriault, our own legal beagle, stated that since Chairman LaRochelle receives no direct financial benefit from the purchase and demolition of the Worumbo Mill there is no conflict of interest. 

 Lisbon Council Chairman Fern LaRochelle

By the way, Chairman LaRochelle voted on the agenda items dealing with the Worumbo Mill instead of recusing himself as he had done during the two Public Hearings.  The mere fact he purchased the abutted property for a little more than half the asking price is no financial gain.  Apparently, Mr. Therriault does not understand if the property value goes up around your property so does your property and if the property value around your property goes down so does the value of your property.  Do you call this a financial gain or not?

Councilor Ward stated that the reason she voted to put the million dollar bond on the November ballot was because she did not hear an overwhelming support one way or the other at the Public Hearing.  She went on to say that those who were against the project were heard loud and clear. Councilor Ward was not convinced that this represented the majority of the people.  This is not word for word because I do not take shorthand but it is as close as I can remember.  

Please watch the video tape when it becomes available.  

 Councilor Pesce

 Councilor Lunt

 Councilors Garrison and Bickford

I suggested that she call for a show of hands to determine how many people in the audience was for, against or undecided but she failed to do this.  By the vote, I would say the only two councilors who were paying attention at the two Public Hearings were Councilors Pesce, and Lunt because they voted against putting it on the ballot.  But as far as the council recommending this bond, Councilors Pesce, Garrison and Lunt voted against the bond.  

One of the questions asked during the Public Hearing was if the bond included the 5 lots owned by Miller Industries.  The answer was they were not sure if these lots, which contain Mercury, were going to be part of the final deal or not.  The council does not know if they can exclude them during the deal.  There are so many issues still undecided and yet they want US to TRUST them to make all the right decisions.  

This is ludicrous to play with a million dollars of taxpayers’ money without knowing all the fact first.  It appears that Chairman LaRochelle received his great deal in return for dumping the mill properties on the town to clear up.  Remember that after the mill fire, the insurance company paid Miller Industries a very large settlement.  Did they reinvest any of this money in Lisbon?  

Three years ago they offered to demolish the mill and Dale Crafts and Gina Mason pushed to leave it up.  Now they want the taxpayers of Lisbon to pick up the tab for eye soar to our community.  There are too many unknowns for the taxpayers to gamble on this project. 

 

 Planning Board Chairman Don Fellows

Mr. Don Fellows spoke on behalf of the Planning Board and the Route 196 Master Plan.  He is in favor of the mill coming down because it is an eye soar to the community.  I agree with Mr. Fellows that it needs to come down but not at the expense of the taxpayers.  

Mrs. Miller and Miller Industries should be responsible for bringing down the mill or restore it but that choice is complete up to them.  By the way, Mrs. Miller and Miller Industries allowed the Real Estate Listing to expire.  Does that mean the property is already under contract or is there a deal pending?

The final bit of information came from Chairman LaRochelle who wants everyone to believe the council can be TRUSTED to make the right decisions for the people.  He wants to compare the Campus Commons to the Worumbo Mill project.  So let’s take a look at the two.  Campus Commons was done behind closed doors; the town sold the property for $1.00 with over a million dollars of Federal Grant monies attached.  4 Campus Avenue was valued at $265,050.  Now Chairman LaRochelle believes that the Worumbo Mill falls into the same category. 

First, we are not selling town property but purchasing property from a private business.  Next, the Millers offered three years ago to demolish the mill, behind closed doors, and the council asked them NOT to do this.  Why wasn’t this brought to the people then?  Now, the council is bringing this to the people because the council cannot swing a deal behind closed doors as they have in the past.  Next, there are contamination issues with the Worumbo Mill property that is well documented.  Common Campus had no issues in this area.  Finally, does the town of Lisbon really want to set a precedent by getting into the Real Estate business?  Comparing these two projects is like comparing apples to oranges. 

If nothing else demonstrating your incompetence is entertaining.

Larry Fillmore 

The New York Times: What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria

 

Op-Ed Contributor

A Plea for Caution From Russia

What Putin Has to Say to Americans About Syria

By VLADIMIR V. PUTIN

Published: September 11, 2013

  MOSCOW — RECENT events surrounding Syria have prompted me to speak directly to the American people and their political leaders. It is important to do so at a time of insufficient communication between our societies.

Relations between us have passed through different stages. We stood against each other during the cold war. But we were also allies once, and defeated the Nazis together. The universal international organization — the United Nations — was then established to prevent such devastation from ever happening again.

The United Nations’ founders understood that decisions affecting war and peace should happen only by consensus, and with America’s consent the veto by Security Council permanent members was enshrined in the United Nations Charter. The profound wisdom of this has underpinned the stability of international relations for decades.

No one wants the United Nations to suffer the fate of the League of Nations, which collapsed because it lacked real leverage. This is possible if influential countries bypass the United Nations and take military action without Security Council authorization.

The potential strike by the United States against Syria, despite strong opposition from many countries and major political and religious leaders, including the pope, will result in more innocent victims and escalation, potentially spreading the conflict far beyond Syria’s borders. A strike would increase violence and unleash a new wave of terrorism. It could undermine multilateral efforts to resolve the Iranian nuclear problem and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and further destabilize the Middle East and North Africa. It could throw the entire system of international law and order out of balance.

Syria is not witnessing a battle for democracy, but an armed conflict between government and opposition in a multireligious country. There are few champions of democracy in Syria. But there are more than enough Qaeda fighters and extremists of all stripes battling the government. The United States State Department has designated Al Nusra Front and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, fighting with the opposition, as terrorist organizations. This internal conflict, fueled by foreign weapons supplied to the opposition, is one of the bloodiest in the world.

Mercenaries from Arab countries fighting there, and hundreds of militants from Western countries and even Russia, are an issue of our deep concern. Might they not return to our countries with experience acquired in Syria? After all, after fighting in Libya, extremists moved on to Mali. This threatens us all.

From the outset, Russia has advocated peaceful dialogue enabling Syrians to develop a compromise plan for their own future. We are not protecting the Syrian government, but international law. We need to use the United Nations Security Council and believe that preserving law and order in today’s complex and turbulent world is one of the few ways to keep international relations from sliding into chaos. The law is still the law, and we must follow it whether we like it or not. Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable under the United Nations Charter and would constitute an act of aggression.

No one doubts that poison gas was used in Syria. But there is every reason to believe it was used not by the Syrian Army, but by opposition forces, to provoke intervention by their powerful foreign patrons, who would be siding with the fundamentalists. Reports that militants are preparing another attack — this time against Israel — cannot be ignored.

It is alarming that military intervention in internal conflicts in foreign countries has become commonplace for the United States. Is it in America’s long-term interest? I doubt it. Millions around the world increasingly see America not as a model of democracy but as relying solely on brute force, cobbling coalitions together under the slogan “you’re either with us or against us.”

But force has proved ineffective and pointless. Afghanistan is reeling, and no one can say what will happen after international forces withdraw. Libya is divided into tribes and clans. In Iraq the civil war continues, with dozens killed each day. In the United States, many draw an analogy between Iraq and Syria, and ask why their government would want to repeat recent mistakes.

No matter how targeted the strikes or how sophisticated the weapons, civilian casualties are inevitable, including the elderly and children, whom the strikes are meant to protect.

The world reacts by asking: if you cannot count on international law, then you must find other ways to ensure your security. Thus a growing number of countries seek to acquire weapons of mass destruction. This is logical: if you have the bomb, no one will touch you. We are left with talk of the need to strengthen nonproliferation, when in reality this is being eroded.

We must stop using the language of force and return to the path of civilized diplomatic and political settlement.

A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations.

If we can avoid force against Syria, this will improve the atmosphere in international affairs and strengthen mutual trust. It will be our shared success and open the door to cooperation on other critical issues.

My working and personal relationship with President Obama is marked by growing trust. I appreciate this. I carefully studied his address to the nation on Tuesday. And I would rather disagree with a case he made on American exceptionalism, stating that the United States’ policy is “what makes America different. It’s what makes us exceptional.” It is extremely dangerous to encourage people to see themselves as exceptional, whatever the motivation. There are big countries and small countries, rich and poor, those with long democratic traditions and those still finding their way to democracy. Their policies differ, too. We are all different, but when we ask for the Lord’s blessings, we must not forget that God created us equal.

Vladimir V. Putin is the president of Russia.

A version of this op-ed appears in print on September 12, 2013, on page A31 of the New York edition with the headline: A Plea for Caution From Russia.

 http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/12/opinion/putin-plea-for-caution-from-russia-on-syria.html?hp&_r=2&

A Counterpoint; The Inappropriate Thesaurus: Response to Ken Huber and What Has America Become

Monday, October 25, 2010

Response to Ken Huber and What Has America Become

This leditor has been going around the right-wing email circuit, and I wanted to briefly address each of Mr. Huber's comments... (If this isn't big enough to read, you can see most of it in excerpt below.)

Ken Huber has some good points but his timeline seems to be confused...

"Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?"

Yes, when we seceded from the union (with Britain)... We have been such ever since, regardless of who has been paying attention.

"Lets see, if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics."

Correct. This is because we don't require Congressmen to swear an oath every time they speak. Regular people lie all the time and it's not a felony. You're forgetting that Congressmen are just regular people going to work, and you seem to be under the impression that they were all completely truthful at one point..?

"If we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, it's their 1st Amendment right."

Both of these things are racist and both of them are 1st amendment rights. There wouldn't be a constitution guaranteeing you the freedom to be a perfect person, this document would be unnecessary. BTW, if certain people give African Americans a pass for being racially ignorant, it's because the American double standard has shafted them historically harder than other groups, and perhaps they actually have a tiny reason to dislike us.

"The government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims."

My imagination isn't potent enough to fathom what it's like to have my life so far into the gutter that robbing a liquor store seems like a good idea... The sad truth of the matter is that we don't all share the same morals, intelligence, work ethic, education, psychological health, etc. etc. But if one of our worst hypocrisies as a nation is that we attempt to turn criminals into decent people.... I guess this doesn't enrage me as much as it should.

"In public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process."

But we teach that God is okay. In one form or another we all learned about the religious freedom of America, we're just not allowed to tell kids they have to believe in God anymore than we tell them they have to be homosexuals. How is this inconsistent?

"You can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer."

I don't think mass murderers have as good of a reputation as you presume. Also, unborn children are generally thought more highly of than "it's okay to kill them". But the reason it's LEGAL to kill them is one of the unfortunate results of a complicated society filled with contrasting world-views. You've had this discussion I'm sure.

"We don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them."

This is a somewhat alarming complaint, and I'm hoping it's just the poetic linguistics of a traditional-minded fellow. If not, let me address it quickly. Knowledge is a constantly evolving thing. What makes a book written in 1999 more valid than a similar book written in 2010? Because it was here first? If the most effective form of chemotherapy has changed over the last ten years, should the texts on chemo not be updated? And the reason we don't burn the old volumes is because they may be useful for reference. When it comes to knowledge, less is not more.

"We got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive."

The claim seems to be that language is being strategically used to affect attitudes. I can do that too. Progress is being slowed down by people renaming it the Socialist Threat. Congratulations, you're a politician.

"We are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea."

I agree that we're spending too much money on foreign defense, although I think this one has something to do with your Communist Threat.

"If you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right."

Seriously? You got called a terrorist for peacefully protesting? That seems extreme.

"You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas."

This is perfectly consistent: you can have a nativity scene at home and you can't have pornography in a public park. What's the argument here? And just a side note, there is such a thing as non-sexual pornography, and the idea of a living manger out-front the capitol building is probably certain peoples' little blue pill.

"We have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people."

Huh? I think this is more rhetorical gymnastics. If the core of this statement is that you don't like the empathy that is given to people who break the law, then I don't know what to tell ya. They still go to jail, and their lives are still probably more or less empty. If you're mad that they're still treated like human beings then I can't really help ya on this one.

"We can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal."

They're not live fetuses being used for research. Again, I can appreciate the anti-abortion sentiment, as I think many people can, but there's something not-so-sacred about incest-rape. Additionally, I don't think the average liberal American has a problem with using rats to cure cancer. Certain folks don't want animals mutated to test our style products. Don't confuse a vocal minority for a majority.

"We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work"

Literally speaking, this is probably way less common than you'd expect. Do you think the average beneficiary of unemployment really WANTS to pad their resume with years of wellfare? Maybe some, but the bigger social issue here is that unexceptional people are having too many babies, creating large quantities of unexceptional citizens.

"We all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology."

Good point, this is also nothing new.

"We still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct."

False. Politically incorrect people still have freedom of speech, they just don't like having to deal with the non-legal consequences of their words. You can lose your job for something you say, but you're forgetting that a job is a privilege, not a constitutional right.

"Parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games."

Once again, too many unexceptional parents.

"The land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs."

Vote.

"The similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help."

Fair enough.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.

Duh.

"What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?"

This is from a song. There are still brave people and free people living here. But the reason those lyrics are popular in song form instead of document form is because they're intended to get you emotive about a vague concept, rather than particular about specific concepts. To ask "What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?" is to ask a rhetorical question for the purpose of making a broad statement: "I don't like the way my country is behaving as of late". But the hypocrisies that you're dealing with here are remarkably consistent with the hypocrisies we've always had. The only difference LATELY is that your fellow voters have been disagreeing with you about the details. You're mad at your government but the folks you should really be mad at are the voters who have a different outlook than you.

What you're probably MOST upset about, is that non-religious people have different values than the faithful. You are unable to see religious dogma as subjective truth. And I don't blame you, because what use would religion be if it WAS seen as subjective? I don't know how to help you reconcile this, other than to tell you to keep on voting and hope for the best. Progress and entropy are more or less two sides to the same coin. One of these (entropy) is inevitable by definition. If that's the idiom you subscribe to, then we're already doomed. If you see social movement as progress, then this is NOT inevitable, and there's hope for you. Only problem becomes dealing with the reality that you're rooting against progress. You can look at the public moving away from religion, towards humanism and see it as entropy or progress. But you can't call it neither. Or, shouldn't.

My friend, you're a man without a nation, and this is going to sound odd and strangely anti-American to say, but if this stuff is really important to you, you're best bet is to join the Tea Party and start planning which mesoamerican states are going to be fenced off for the REAL America to begin. Only awkward thing is that you're going to lose the name America and the songs and flags... Can you reconcile fighting for your secession (which you WILL win, because if there's one thing your Tea Party friends will have, it's lots of guns--and if there's one thing godless neo-liberals don't have, it's willingness to fight and die for anything) when after the dust settles, you'll have your perfect set of small-government laws but a less traditional flag to wave, different songs to learn, and a whole new set of patriots to start idolizing? Boy it's gonna be wistfull, but at least things will be back to the way they.... (were?)

 http://dolphindentist.blogspot.com/2010/10/response-to-ken-huber-and-what-has.html

And The Question Still Remains Valid Today: What Has America Become? by Ken Huber

 Rene Girard, Examiner.com

"What Has America Become" was the title of a letter to the editior written by Ken Huber of Tawas City, Michigan.   It contains a series of comparisons and contrasts which causes one to think about the double-standards and conditions under which we now live here in America.  

A reprint of the article has been circulating online (see photo with this article) finding its way to Fort Worth and possibly all over the nation.  It was originally printed in the Iosco County News Herald on June 9, 2010, published in the Opinion column.  Please read, post your thoughts, and as always feel free to subscribe for future articles and/or
share with others.

 Where Is Tawas City, MI? It is on Lake Huron and has a population of just over 2,000!!

What has America become?
Editor,

Has America become the land of special interest and home of the double standard?

Lets see: if we lie to the Congress, it's a felony and if the Congress lies to us its just politics; if we dislike a black person, we're racist and if a black person dislikes whites, its their 1st Amendment right; the government spends millions to rehabilitate criminals and they do almost nothing for the victims; in public schools you can teach that homosexuality is OK, but you better not use the word God in the process; you can kill an unborn child, but it is wrong to execute a mass murderer; we don't burn books in America, we now rewrite them; we got rid of communist and socialist threats by renaming them progressive; we are unable to close our border with Mexico, but have no problem protecting the 38th parallel in Korea; if you protest against President Obama's policies you're a terrorist, but if you burned an American flag or George Bush in effigy it was your 1st Amendment right.

You can have pornography on TV or the internet, but you better not put a nativity scene in a public park during Christmas; we have eliminated all criminals in America, they are now called sick people; we can use a human fetus for medical research, but it is wrong to use an animal.

We take money from those who work hard for it and give it to those who don't want to work; we all support the Constitution, but only when it supports our political ideology; we still have freedom of speech, but only if we are being politically correct; parenting has been replaced with Ritalin and video games; the land of opportunity is now the land of hand outs; the similarity between Hurricane Katrina and the gulf oil spill is that neither president did anything to help.

And how do we handle a major crisis today? The government appoints a committee to determine who's at fault, then threatens them, passes a law, raises our taxes; tells us the problem is solved so they can get back to their reelection campaign.

What has happened to the land of the free and home of the brave?

- Ken Huber
Tawas City

(note:  all links added for articles related to topics within Mr. Huber's article.  His article had no links.)

A Dream of Restoring Honor and Trust In Lisbon

HONOR AND TRUST

 

I also attended the August 28, 2013 Appeals Board meeting, a

"PUBLIC HEARING, Case #13-1, Larochelle Properties, LLC. Variance request for front and side setbacks to allow for construction of commercial building."

The Chair of the committee, Miriam Morgan Alexander, banged the gavel that brought the meeting to order, and approximately 15 minutes later, she banged the gavel to end the meeting.

Now, I'm not saying that Mr... Larochelle should not be allowed to build on that site. The 3 buildings that were there were demolished 3 years ago, and the land has sat vacant. A new building, surely attractive, in keeping with the area, and well kept will be a welcome addition to town, not to mention the real estate taxes to be assessed and paid.

What I object to was the way the meeting was handled.

It was so obvious that approval of the project was a "done deal" before the meeting took place. 

Members of the public, citizens who  took time out of their lives to attend, were not given an opportunity to speak.

Miriam Morgan-Alexander claims to be a veteran of The United States. The military, no matter which branch, fight, and have died, for freedom for ALL Americans. Not just a chosen few. 

Last night's Appeals Board meeting was a travesty of Justice, and all who participated in it, whether there in person, or helped to perpetrate it, should be ashamed of themselves.

Yesterday commemorated Martin Luther King's I Have a Dream speech.

Well, I also have a dream.

I have a dream that some day the Town of Lisbon will get back to it's roots.

Where all residents and taxpayers are treated equal.

Where our leaders, elected and appointed, are honest and work for the good of the town and ALL it's residents.

Where all again have the freedom of speech at meetings.

Where Trust and Honor again have a place in our vocabulary.

Dot Fitzgerald

A Very Concerned Lisbon Citizen

 Thank You Dot!