[*] OBAMA: Please, everybody, have a seat. Let me first of all just thank Ken and the entire Department of the Interior staff for organizing just an extraordinary conference.

I want to thank my Cabinet members and senior administration officials who participated today. I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow (ph) was around, and so I want to give a shout out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It’s good to see you.

(APPLAUSE)

My understanding is is that you had an extremely productive conference. I want to thank all of you for coming and for your efforts, and I want to give you my solemn guarantee that this is not the end of a process, but the beginning of a process and that we are going to follow up.

We are going to follow up. Every single member of my team understands that this is a top priority for us. I want you to know that, as I said this morning, this—this is not something that we just give lip service to. And we are going to keep on working with you to make sure that the first Americans (ph) get the best possible chances in life in a way that’s consistent with your extraordinary traditions and culture and values.

Now, I have to say, though, that beyond that, I had planned to make some broader remarks about the challenges that lay ahead for Native Americans as well as collaboration with our administration.

But as some of you might have heard, there has been a tragic shooting at the Fort Hood Army base in Texas.…

... I want all of you to know that as commander-in-chief, there’s no greater honor, but also no greater responsibility for me than to make sure that the extraordinary men and women in uniform are properly cared for an that their safety and security when they are at home is provided for.

So we are going to stay on this, but I hope in the meantime that all of you recognize the scope of this tragedy and keep everybody in their thoughts and prayers. Again, thank you for your participation here today. I am confident that this is going to be resulting in terrific work between this government and your governments in the weeks, the months and years to come. .....................

~Click Click~

Riley’s Farm

A pair of mass shootings at Ft. Hood military post in Texas left at least 7 dead and 20 wounded Thursday, and one suspected gunman is on the loose, the Army said.

A massive manhunt was under way for the suspect at large, Fox News confirmed, and one person was in custody. The New York Post said that there were two shooters at the Army post massacre; other reports said there were three.

An Army spokesman at the Pentagon said the shootings began about 1:30 p.m. Thursday at a personnel and medical processing center at Ft. Hood.

Lt. Col. Nathan Banks said two shooters were apparently involved. There is no word yet on who they were, nor on the identities of the dead.

The second incident took place at a theater on Ft. Hood, according to Banks…

Tea Party protesters are sheep, easily herded and easily led. A pitiful cross-section of duped sub-Americans.

always liked this guy

Thousands of Tea Party activists [about 10,000 by noon] descended on Washington Thursday to protest the trillion dollar health care bill and government spending, holding signs protesting Barack Obama’s agenda while aiming chants of “you work for us” at the Capitol building....

...along with celebrity conservatives Jon Voight and John Ratzenberger…

John Ratzenberger:  Money/Mouth same place.

The Seattle Sons & Daughters of Liberty:
A Seattle Action Network

Call, fax, email congress NOW!

Operation House Call is ON! NOW IS THE TIME TO MELT EVERY LINE OF COMMUNICATION - DC first, then locally. FLOOD these offices with messages!

For the phone/fax numbers of nationally targeted Representatives and Senators, click here: http://bit.ly/3QgjZs.

Locally, call these guys:

Rep. Jay Inslee, Washington, 1st
http://www.house.gov/inslee/
DC Office Number:  (202) 225-6311, DC Fax Number: (202) 226-1606
Local Office Number: (360) 598-2342, Local Fax Number: (360) 598-3650

Rep. Adam Smith, Washington, 9th
http://adamsmith.house.gov/
DC Office Number: (202) 225-8901
Local Office Number: (253) 593-6600, Local Fax Number: (253) 593-6776

Rep. Brian Baird, Washington 3rd
http://www.baird.house.gov/
DC Office Number: (202) 225-3536, DC Fax Number: (202) 225-2478
Local Office Number: (360) 695-6292, Local Fax Number: (360) 695-6197

EVEN BETTER: if you can deliver a handwritten letter to their district offices IN ADDTION to calling nationally targeted Reps., you can really make a difference!!

Michelle Bachmann, Jon Voight, Mark Levin and thousands of fellow patriots are gathering on the Capitol steps RIGHT NOW to fight the health care DEform bill! Support their efforts by calling!

IN LIBERTY!

Liberty Belle

BERLIN —

Fans hoping to catch a glimpse of U2’s free concert celebrating 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall will have to “scale these city walls” after organizers threw up a massive barrier to block the view for those without tickets…

it’s not just for old folks

On line 17, p. 110, section 222 under “Abortions for which Public Funding is Allowed” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run plan.  The Speaker’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions.

What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run plan.  It’s right there on line 16, page 96, section 213, under “Insurance Rating Rules.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account - and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services.

Section 213 describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run plan.  The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month.

A student with an “Obama” haircut at Wright Middle School in Madison, Wisconsin, listens to President Barack Obama speak as he visits the area, November 4, 2009.

White Feather speaks

OBAMA:

...a couple of summers ago… I was adopted into the nation by a wonderful couple, Hartford and Mary Black Eagle. ... Only in America could the adopted son of Crow Indians grow up to be the president of the United States.
[emph mine - e~C]

...

We know the history that we share. It’s a history marked by violence and disease and deprivation. Treaties were violated. Promises were broken. You were told your lands, your religion, your cultures, your languages were not yours to keep.

...Some of your reservations face unemployment rates of up to 80 percent. Roughly a quarter of all Native Americans live in poverty. More than 14 percent of all reservation homes don’t have electricity. And 12 percent don’t have access to a safe water supply.

...

[flings fresh-printed dollars]

...

OBAMA: This is harder than it looks.

clarity

Democrats on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee on Thursday approved a sweeping climate change bill without any Republicans present.

Republicans had boycotted the committee’s work on the bill, insisting on a cost analysis of the proposal by the EPA.

[Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.)] “I am deeply disappointed by Chairman Boxer’s decision to violate the rules and longstanding precedent of the committee. The Republicans offered a clear path forward to a bipartisan markup, but it was summarily rejected by Chairman Boxer. Instead, she decided to ignore the entreaties of all 6 ranking members from Senate committees with some share of jurisdiction over climate change legislation, as well as leading moderates in the Senate. Her action signals the death knell for the Kerry Boxer bill.”

Headlines from the Year 2020

-- Rare July snowstorm disrupts track-and-field events at Chicago Olympics; police round up global-warming deniers

-- Pennsylvania court faces hate-crime quandary: Muslim immigrant murdered gay-rights activist who opposed construction of mosque

[RTWT]

or is that Wii

When asked by CNSNews.com what specific part of the Constitution authorizes Congress to mandate that individuals must purchase health insurance, Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.) pointed to the part of the Constitution that he says authorizes the federal government “to provide for the health, welfare and the defense of the country.” In fact, the word “health” appears nowhere in the Constitution.

“Well, that’s under certainly the laws of the--protect the health, welfare of the country,” said Burris. “That’s under the Constitution. We’re not even dealing with any constitutionality here. Should we move in that direction? What does the Constitution say? To provide for the health, welfare and the defense of the country.”

That’s not the constitution I knew.

HotAir

YMMV

Dr. Arnold Klein, who was Jacko’s friend and doctor for years, claims the singer thought it was ‘funny’ to wee in cups in front of an audience.

...there were numerous times when Jackson would pee in the doctor’s home in a cup around groups of people, including children. Klein says Jackson would also pee in front of other people in his office.

Get Well Soon

Yesterday Glenn Beck left the air abruptly citing he was feeling poorly. Turns out he has appendicitis. Conspiratorialists believe the White House got to the Conservative talk show host. Beck who devotes four hours a day on both radio and Fox New to spreading sunshine on the White House and its Mao/Marist administration.

[GBeck’s Twitter] “I just realized my tonsils are missing. ...”

WATERTOWN, N.Y. – Vice President Joseph R. Biden rolled through this rural military town on Monday, becoming the latest political heavyweight to weigh in…
...Mr. Biden’s appearance. ...

Some dumb irrelevant snowbilly chick’s FaceBook page.

The concrete wall that divided the city of Berlin for 28 years is suddenly splitting a segment of Los Angeles’ art community just as the 20th anniversary of the wall’s falling nears.

The trouble began earlier this month when the Wende Museum installed several segments of the original Berlin Wall on Wilshire Boulevard.

Kent Twitchell, whose larger-than-life paintings cover entire walls and sides of freeways, said he planned to “bookend” two sections of the wall with portraits of President John F. Kennedy, who denounced the barrier in a Berlin speech in 1961, and President Ronald Reagan, who famously demanded, “Tear down this wall!” shortly before it came down in 1989.

But as he rushed to finish the portraits, Twitchell said he was told by organizers that he could leave one of the paintings in his studio: There was no room for both.

~ * ~
Twitchell complained that once the project’s organizers ran out of room they indicated they wanted him to show up with Kennedy, not Reagan, when he mounts his work on the 10-foot-high wall across the street from the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on Saturday…

Declaring there should be “no excuse for mediocrity” in public schools, President Obama on Wednesday pledged to push for recruitment of better teachers, better pay for those who succeed and dismissal of those who let their students down.

When principals are trying to determine which teachers are doing well, he said, they should be able to consider student performance as part of the evaluation.

For instance, whether the little darlings can all carry a tune and stay on key.

Obama will fuck over India soon…

Here are some Repub jackasses who need things ‘splained to ‘em.

NASHVILLE - Supporters of blocking public access to the names and addresses of Tennesseans with handgun carry permits appear to have a hard time keeping their hands off the records. Records obtained and reviewed by The Associated Press show that copies of the state’s database of more than 257,000 handgun permit holders were recently requested by the state Republican Party and a direct mail contractor that has done extensive work for the GOP’s legislative caucus.

Asked about those requests Monday, House Republican Caucus chairman Glen Casada said he opposes using the database for political purposes such as fundraising or get-out-the-vote efforts. “I know they’re going to use it for campaigns, but there’s people that would use it to break into homes and steal guns,” said Casada of Franklin. “And I just wish we could keep personal information like that private.”

The latest effort to close the records came after The Commercial Appeal posted the full database on its Web site last year. No Republican opposed closing the records to the public last session. The bill - which would have closed the records for all uses, including campaign purposes - failed to pass by just one vote in June. State Republican Party chairman Chris Devaney said the party doesn’t take a position on whether the records should be open. ...

Time to find out what’s bein’ done locally.

Oh, yeah, good gun-law stuff’s goin’ on today in Canadia, too.

A powerful subcommittee chairman working on financial regulations didn’t appreciate Rahm Emanuel’s role in trying to change his bill — and he pointedly reminded members of his panel that President Barack Obama’s chief of staff isn’t in the House anymore.
Rep. Paul Kanjorski sounded annoyed when freshman New Jersey Democrat John Adler invoked Emanuel’s name while pushing a controversial amendment to Kanjorski’s investor protection bill.
“What seat does he occupy here?” Kanjorski demanded about freshman Rep. John Adler (D-N.J.), pointing around the half-empty Financial Services Committee room.

Kanjorski is chairman of the capital markets subcommittee, and he didn’t like the idea that the president’s chief of staff was a guiding hand on an amendment Kanjorski didn’t like.

“I’m just letting you know that other people … support this position,” Adler replied. He said he met with Emanuel three times to discuss the amendment.

A section of Highway 529 between Everett and Marysville is being designated as a Yellow Ribbon Highway to honor military personnel.

A dedication ceremony is scheduled at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Inn at Port Gardner in Everett with military and Transportation Department officials and local leaders.

The Transportation Commission approved a resolution in July to place Yellow Ribbon Highway signs along an eight-mile stretch of the highway. The resolution was proposed by Everett resident Nathan Olson to honor his older brother.

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) on Wednesday suggested that controversial groups such as ACORN and Planned Parenthood could play a role in enrolling individuals in the national health insurance exchange.

Vitter pointed to language in the House’s version of healthcare reform legislation that allows for “appropriate entities” to assist with outreach efforts to “inform and educate individuals and employers about the Health Insurance Exchange and Exchange-participating health benefits plan options.”

Though the language mentions no organizations specifically, Vitter surmises that organizations opposed by conservatives could participate.

“ACORN and Planned Parenthood in health care bill? Nothing says they can’t be. Pg 183 lets ‘appropriate entities’ help in ‘outreach,’” Vitter said on his campaign Twitter feed.

Seems as though the hymns of praise to the Dear Leader thing has gotten out of hand.
I’m afraid to ask about the “Pledge of Allegiance” in these classrooms.
So, I’ve created my own fun little ditty for kids to sing in class (BTF).
Perhaps you have one you’d like to contribute.

oh for christ’s sake. marriage is a civil and human right. keep your religion out of it.

Pigs not welcome at the Capitol

U.S. Capitol Police have rejected PETA’s plan to bring live pigs to the Capitol because of swine flu fears.

In an Oct. 23 letter to the animal-rights group obtained by The Hill, Capitol Police cited a recommendation from the D.C. Health Department and said it was rejecting PETA’s request “due to significant health concerns about the possible spread of the H1N1 virus.”

The letter also cited “nuisance concerns” with the plan by People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) to bring a group of pigs and gallons of swine urine and tons of manure to Capitol Hill.

~
PETA said it wanted to use giant fans to spread the smells from the animals and their waste across Capitol Hill as a way to draw attention to swine flu and the mistreatment of the animals.