HAPPY BIRTHDAY MELISSY IN TEXAS!!!!!

Dissent is the Highest Form of Patriotism Terrorism Man-Caused Disaster

[A] written exam, given as part of Department of Defense employees’ routine training, includes a multiple-choice question that asks:

“Which of the following is an example of low-level terrorism?”

— Attacking the Pentagon

— IEDs

— Hate crimes against racial groups

— Protests

The correct answer, according to the exam, is “Protests.”

...erm

It’s Ok - the ACLU is all over it like stank on a Progressive.

the ACLU has asked the Defense Department to remove the question and send out a correction to all employees who took the exam.

That’ll get the message out.

“We need to determine if it’s something we’re currently doing,” [said Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Les Melnyk said the Defense Department]

Clearly this fella aced Puzzle Palace Linguistics Skool.

Anti-war protesters, who say they have been targets of federal surveillance for years, were livid when they were told about the exam question.

“That’s illegal,” said George Martin, national co-chairman of United for Peace, Justice and Fascism.  ...Martin said getting information on the extent of the FBI and National Security Agency’s surveillance programs is nearly impossible.

So then only Tea Parties will be considered Patriotism Terrorism Man-Caused Disaster.  *whew* I like being special.

Ace

“Those ridiculous contracts — pages of fine print that no one can figure out — will be a thing of the past. You’ll be able to compare products, with descriptions in plain language, to see what is best for you.”

LOL

is there a Czar for that?

“It is important for our reform efforts to build on our traditions here in the United States. So when you hear the naysayers claim that I’m trying to bring about government-run health care, know this: They’re not telling the truth,” Obama said.

“...That would eliminate the small group insurance market.  It’s premised on doing so. ...”

“Transition process”

“Honest Debate”

*runz in circles*

Europe risks falling behind the US in policing the financial system and the current crisis could prove “a wasted opportunity” to ensure its future stability, a top European Central Bank policymaker has warned.

The toughly worded comments by Lorenzo Bini Smaghi, an ECB executive board member, came as European Union leaders approved plans for a new regulatory framework that will include a “European systemic risk board” and a European system of financial supervisors.

...With global financial markets showing signs of stabilisation, “there is a risk the sense of urgency for reform fades away and nationalistic tendencies and institutional jealousies re-emerge,” Mr Bini Smaghi told a conference on financial regulation at Bocconi university in Italy.

and that would be ...uhm, bad?

nothing to see.  move along...

Odd, this…

One summer afternoon, two “Japanese” men in their 50s on a slow train from Italy to Switzerland said they had nothing to declare at the frontier point of Chiasso.

But in a false bottom of one of their suitcases, Italian customs officers and ministry of finance police discovered a staggering $134bn (€97bn, £82bn) in US Treasury bills. [249 US Treasury bills, each of $500m, and 10 “Kennedy” bonds, used as intergovernment payments, of $1bn each]

That’s a significant percentage of all the bonds we have outstanding.

Whether the men are really Japanese, as their passports declare, is unclear

It’s rather a distinctive look—being Japanese.  ...just sayin’

but Italian and US secret services working together soon concluded that the bills and accompanying bank documents were most probably counterfeit, the latest handiwork of the Italian Mafia.

rly?

The fake bonds were to have been used as collateral to open credit lines with banks…

“They are all fraudulent, it’s obvious. We don’t even have paper securities outstanding for that value,’’ said Mckayla Braden, senior adviser for public affairs at the Bureau of Public Debt at the US Treasury department. ...

The Treasury has not issued physical Treasury bonds since the 1980s – they are handled electronically – though they still issue savings bonds in paper format.

Isn’t this something a big international Swiss bank would know?  Maybe I’m just naive, or compulsively retentive or something, but isn’t the location and ownership of every single $1bn ‘Kennedy’ bond known?

And if not, WTH is Treasury doing?!?

Officials in Tokyo were nonplussed. Takeshi Akamatsu, a Japanese foreign ministry press secretary, said Italian authorities had confirmed that two men carrying Japanese passports had been questioned in the bond case but Tokyo had not been informed of their names or whereabouts.

“We don’t know where they are now,” Mr Akamatsu said.

...Italian officials, while pointing out that hauls of counterfeit money and Treasury bills were not unusual, were stunned by the amount involved. Investigators are looking into the origin and destination of the fakes.

But ya didn’t hang on to the guys carrying the $134bn worth of paper?  Interesting “decision.”

Remember—a large part of Treasury’s job is to maintain full faith and confidence in US financial instruments.  That’s the danger in international counterfeiting; it devalues the Dollar [much as the wholesale printing of real dollars does.  but that’s not important, now.]

Maybe I’m just demonstrating a dangerous naivete about ginormous international monetary instruments, but I do know, if I find a $20 tucked in a pocket of a pair of pants from the back of my closet I feel like I’ve not been paying enough attention.  I shudder to think Treasury is being that kind of criminally sloppy.

Put me some Knowledge.  Please.

like, koooool, Dadday

… a Japanese news report that North Korea may fire a long-range ballistic missile toward Hawaii in early July [the 4^th of July, to be exact].

...a Navy destroyer, is positioning itself in case it gets orders to intercept the ship Kang Nam as soon as it leaves the vicinity off the coast of China ... The USS John McCain [write ‘em yourselves, folks]…

So the NorKs are saber rattling again… Guess they need more US$?  Like the food we send wasn’t enough, eh?  Maybe Li’l Kim’s kid, the Un Son, needs hair plugs.

Our TOTUS is ”expressing dismay” and flipping through his thesaurus looking for more sincere adjectives while his bat man dresses him for the Media Dinner.  *yawn*

Well… I guess it’s worth a shot, eh?  The “Yeah, whatever.  Knock ya’self out.” approach to Smart™ Diplomacy.  I mean really—it’s not like he still knows anyone in Hawaii, still.  Family is gone and, really, it’s just a place he lived for a while on that long road to the Top.

Years ago we got all serious about the NorK’s threats and all that got US was that embarrassing spectacle wherein the NorKs fed up a few thousand of its citizens so they could do their quaint, native dances for Madeline Not-so-Bright while she feasted on local delicacies, then we bribed ‘em with a pile o’ cash and some ‘technical help.” Yeah.  that worked out well.

Gotta say, tho.  It feels kinda ...off. I mean, yanno that possessive, protector thing that LEOs have for their turf and their people?  Armed service folks have it, too.  And gang bangers and ancient war lords and kings… Where if anybody messes with their turf—or even says nasty stuff—unpleasant things happen.  One of those ancient human type things.

But maybe we’ve evolved beyond those primitive, anthropoid politics type responses.  Maybe this is some of that new Smart™ Political Courage.

Or maybe cuz tribes that tried this approach didn’t get to evolve further.  Guess we’ll see.

Meanwhile, I sure hope those Moonbats in HI are enjoying the protection of that missile defense system they derided so harshly.  I mean, before the TOTUS scraps it altogether, being as how it’s primitive and brutish and an unnecessary expenditure and all…

there’s a theme thing starting to develop…

~ * ~

The granddaughter of Cuban revolutionary leader Ernesto “Che” Guevara is at the forefront of another revolution — for vegetarianism.

Lydia Guevara poses semi-nude in a PETA campaign that tells viewers to “join the vegetarian revolution,” said PETA spokesman Michael McGraw.

The print campaign is expected to debut in October in magazines and posters, McGraw said. It will be launched first in Argentina, where Che Guevara was born, and then internationally. PETA approached the 24-year-old in recent months after finding out she was a vegetarian, McGraw said.

In the ad, Lydia Guevara wears camouflage pants, a red beret, and bandoliers of baby carrots while standing with one fist on her hip and the other outstretched.

“It very much evokes the tag line of the ad, which is ‘Join the vegetarian revolution,’” McGraw said. “It’s an homage of sorts to her late grandfather.”

Che Guevara was a Marxist leader who played a pivotal role in Fidel Castro’s rise to power in Cuba. He was executed in Bolivia in 1967.

Shrubber

If only I could be a little fly............

~ * ~

L.A. Mormon Temple

Crenshaw Christian Center

In the state’s continuing political battles over gay marriage, both sides are targeting Latino voters, and a new Los Angeles Times poll illustrates why.

White voters were most emphatic in their support for same-sex marriage, with 68% supporting it and 27% opposing. African American voters were strongly against it, with 54% opposing same-sex marriage and 37% supporting it.

Opposition to gay marriage by African Americans was widely seen as a major factor contributing to the passage of Proposition 8. Latinos in the current poll were split, with 45% supporting same-sex marriage and 46% opposing.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will have to undergo surgery later this week to repair a fractured right elbow, caused when she slipped and fell on her way to a White House meeting on Wednesday evening, the State Department said Thursday........

speaking of Boxers

............former Secretary of State Condolezza Rice was testifying before Senator Boxer two years ago.  That was when Boxer dressed Rice down for having the nerve to be a childless woman who has the power to make decisions.

Few may remember that Boxer called Rice ‘Madam” three different times during that testimony......

Can ya tell this put my scrunchie in a bunch?