You Decide

By Richard Gray, Science Correspondent and Rebecca Lefort
Published: 9:00PM GMT 30 Jan 2010

Source Telegraph.co.uk

The revelation will cause fresh embarrassment for the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which had to issue a humiliating apology earlier this month over inaccurate statements about global warming.

The IPCC's remit is to provide an authoritative assessment of scientific evidence on climate change.

In its most recent report, it stated that observed reductions in mountain ice in the Andes, Alps and Africa was being caused by global warming, citing two papers as the source of the information.

However, it can be revealed that one of the sources quoted was a feature article published in a popular magazine for climbers which was based on anecdotal evidence from mountaineers about the changes they were witnessing on the mountainsides around them.

The other was a dissertation written by a geography student, studying for the equivalent of a master's degree, at the University of Berne in Switzerland that quoted interviews with mountain guides in the Alps.

The revelations, uncovered by The Sunday Telegraph, have raised fresh questions about the quality of the information contained in the report, which was published in 2007.

It comes after officials for the panel were forced earlier this month to retract inaccurate claims in the IPCC's report about the melting of Himalayan glaciers.

Sceptics have seized upon the mistakes to cast doubt over the validity of the IPCC and have called for the panel to be disbanded.

This week scientists from around the world leapt to the defence of the IPCC, insisting that despite the errors, which they describe as minor, the majority of the science presented in the IPCC report is sound and its conclusions are unaffected.

But some researchers have expressed exasperation at the IPCC's use of unsubstantiated claims and sources outside of the scientific literature.

Professor Richard Tol, one of the report's authors who is based at the Economic and Social Research Institute in Dublin, Ireland, said: "These are essentially a collection of anecdotes.

"Why did they do this? It is quite astounding. Although there have probably been no policy decisions made on the basis of this, it is illustrative of how sloppy Working Group Two (the panel of experts within the IPCC responsible for drawing up this section of the report) has been.

"There is no way current climbers and mountain guides can give anecdotal evidence back to the 1900s, so what they claim is complete nonsense."

The IPCC report, which is published every six years, is used by government's worldwide to inform policy decisions that affect billions of people.

The claims about disappearing mountain ice were contained within a table entitled "Selected observed effects due to changes in the cryosphere produced by warming".

It states that reductions in mountain ice have been observed from the loss of ice climbs in the Andes, Alps and in Africa between 1900 and 2000.

The report also states that the section is intended to "assess studies that have been published since the TAR (Third Assessment Report) of observed changes and their effects".

But neither the dissertation or the magazine article cited as sources for this information were ever subject to the rigorous scientific review process that research published in scientific journals must undergo.

The magazine article, which was written by Mark Bowen, a climber and author of two books on climate change, appeared in Climbing magazine in 2002. It quoted anecdotal evidence from climbers of retreating glaciers and the loss of ice from climbs since the 1970s.

Mr Bowen said: "I am surprised that they have cited an article from a climbing magazine, but there is no reason why anecdotal evidence from climbers should be disregarded as they are spending a great deal of time in places that other people rarely go and so notice the changes."

The dissertation paper, written by professional mountain guide and climate change campaigner Dario-Andri Schworer while he was studying for a geography degree, quotes observations from interviews with around 80 mountain guides in the Bernina region of the Swiss Alps.

Experts claim that loss of ice climbs are a poor indicator of a reduction in mountain ice as climbers can knock ice down and damage ice falls with their axes and crampons.

The IPCC has faced growing criticism over the sources it used in its last report after it emerged the panel had used unsubstantiated figures on glacial melting in the Himalayas that were contained within a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report.

It can be revealed that the IPCC report made use of 16 non-peer reviewed WWF reports.

One claim, which stated that coral reefs near mangrove forests contained up to 25 times more fish numbers than those without mangroves nearby, quoted a feature article on the WWF website.

In fact the data contained within the WWF article originated from a paper published in 2004 in the respected journal Nature.

In another example a WWF paper on forest fires was used to illustrate the impact of reduced rainfall in the Amazon rainforest, but the data was from another Nature paper published in 1999.

When The Sunday Telegraph contacted the lead scientists behind the two papers in Nature, they expressed surprise that their research was not cited directly but said the IPCC had accurately represented their work.

The chair of the IPCC Rajendra Pachauri has faced mounting pressure and calls for his resignation amid the growing controversy over the error on glacier melting and use of unreliable sources of information.

A survey of 400 authors and contributors to the IPCC report showed, however, that the majority still support Mr Pachauri and the panel's vice chairs. They also insisted the overall findings of the report are robust despite the minor errors.

But many expressed concern at the use of non-peer reviewed information in the reports and called for a tightening of the guidelines on how information can be used.

The Met Office, which has seven researchers who contributed to the report including Professor Martin Parry who was co-chair of the working group responsible for the part of the report that contained the glacier errors, said: "The IPCC should continue to ensure that its review process is as robust and transparent as possible, that it draws only from the peer-reviewed literature, and that uncertainties in the science and projections are clearly expressed."

Roger Sedjo, a senior research fellow at the US research organisation Resources for the Future who also contributed to the IPCC's latest report, added: "The IPCC is, unfortunately, a highly political organisation with most of the secretariat bordering on climate advocacy.

"It needs to develop a more balanced and indeed scientifically sceptical behaviour pattern. The organisation tend to select the most negative studies ignoring more positive alternatives."

The IPCC failed to respond to questions about the inclusion of unreliable sources in its report but it has insisted over the past week that despite minor errors, the findings of the report are still robust and consistent with the underlying science."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/environment/climatechange/7111525/UN-climate-change-panel-based-claims-on-student-dissertation-and-magazine-article.html

Mother Nature already had it under control .... without global taxation OR Cap & Trade.

___________

By Louise Gray, Environment Correspondent
Published: 10:58AM GMT 29 Jan 2010

Source Telegraph.co.uk

"The research by scientists at the American weather service found water vapour high in the atmosphere is far more influential on world temperatures than previously thought.

During the 1990s one third of the increase in global temperatures was due to an increase in water vapour. In the same way a drop in water vapour after 2000 could explain the recent slowdown in global warming.

The researchers insist their findings do not mean that global warming is not caused by man made greenhouse gases. But the effect of natural water vapour high up in the air may also be having an effect.

The research comes amid fears global warming has been exaggerated. The United Nations’ climate science panel the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) admitted last week that it made a mistake by claiming that the Himalayan glaciers could melt by 2035.

It followed another row surrounding the science behind climate change, dubbed “Climategate”, when it was alleged leaked emails showed scientists at the University of East Anglia were willing to manipulate climate change data.

The new research by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is published in the journal Science, one of the most respected in the world.

Susan Solomon, who led the research and worked on the IPCC, said climate scientists need to take into account the effect of water vapour high in the atmosphere when studying global warming.

“Current climate models do a remarkable job on water vapour near the surface. But this is different — it’s a thin wedge of the upper atmosphere that packs a wallop from one decade to the next in a way we didn’t expect,”

Vicky Pope, Head of Climate Change Advice at the Met Office, said the research does not change the long term trend of warming caused by man made greenhouse gases. But it does show how water vapour in the stratosphere is also affecting temperature."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/7101004/Water-vapour-is-a-major-cause-of-global-warming-and-cooling-find-scientists.html

"New Jersey Firm Recalls Instant Noodle Products Imported from an Unapproved Source
 
Recall Release CLASS II RECALL
FSIS-RC-007-2010 HEALTH RISK: LOW

Source USDA

"January 27, 2010 - Well Luck Co., Inc., a Jersey City, N.J., establishment, is recalling approximately 50,000 pounds of instant noodle products that were ineligible for import to the U.S., the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced today.

Well Luck Co., Inc., is recalling the instant noodle products because they do not meet product inspection or exemption requirements for poultry, beef, and pork. The foreign inspection system of the country where the beef, poultry, and pork ingredients originated, China, has not been deemed to be equivalent as required by federal regulations.

The following product is subject to recall: [Sample Recall Labels] (PDF Only)
Cases of 12 packages containing five 110g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Beef Flavour.” Each package bears a use by date of 10/5/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42894.
Cases of 12 packages containing five 112g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Pork Flavour.” Each package bears a use by date of 10/8/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42895.
Cases of 12 packages containing five 110g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Spicy Beef Flavour.” Each package bears a use by date of 10/8/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42896.
Cases of 12 packages containing five 110g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Spicy Beef Flavour.” Each package bears a use by date of 10/8/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42896.
Cases of 12 packages containing five 110g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Spicy Hot Beef Flavour.” Each package bears a use by date of 10/8/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42897.
Cases containing 18 143g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Korean Style, Stew Beef Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/9/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42903.
Cases containing 18 143g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Korean Style, Stew Pork Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/9/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42904.
Cases containing 18 141g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Korean Style, Spicy Beef Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/9/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42905.
Cases containing 18 140g-packs of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Korean Style, Mushroom Chicken Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/12/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42936.
Cases containing 12 116g-bowls of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Beef Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/9/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42920.
Cases containing 12 116g-bowls of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Pork Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 9/28/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42921.
Cases containing 12 119g-bowls of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Pork Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/9/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42922.
Cases containing 12 110g-bowls of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Mushroom Chicken Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/9/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42919.
Cases containing 12 83g-cups of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Beef Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/10/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42934.
Cases containing 12 86g-cups of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Stew Pork Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/10/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42933.
Cases containing 12 83g-cups of “JIN MAI LANG Instant Noodles, Spicy Pork Flavour.” Each pack bears a use by date of 10/10/2010. Each case bears a case code of 42932.

The problem was discovered after FSIS identified the products in the marketplace. The instant noodle products were distributed to retail establishments nationwide. FSIS has received no reports of illness as a result of consuming these products.

FSIS routinely conducts recall effectiveness checks to verify recalling firms notify their customers of the recall and that steps are taken to make certain that the product is no longer available to consumers.

Consumers and media with questions about the recall should contact company coordinator, Shany Chang, at (201) 434-1177 ext. 141.

FSIS works with other federal agencies to ensure the safety of imported meat, poultry and processed egg products. The Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service issues import permits based on animal health considerations, specific to a country or region. Customs and Border Protection provides oversight of all products entering the United States.

Consumers with food safety questions can "Ask Karen," the FSIS virtual representative available 24 hours a day at AskKaren.gov. The toll-free USDA Meat and Poultry Hotline 1-888-MPHotline (1-888-674-6854) is available in English and Spanish and can be reached from l0 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Eastern Time) Monday through Friday. Recorded food safety messages are available 24 hours a day.  

http://www.fsis.usda.gov/News_&_Events/Recall_007_2010_Release/index.asp

Can't blame this one on Bush.

"Zero Private-Sector Jobs Created In Past 11 Years

By Jed Graham   

I"t’s been pretty widely discussed that the past decade was a lost one for job creation. But focusing on private payrolls alone would also wipe out nearly all of the employment gains from 1999, among the better years on record.

Next Friday’s employment report comes with an annual benchmark revision that the Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated would erase 855,000 private jobs (and add 31,000 government jobs).

Subtract that from the seasonally adjusted December payroll number of 108.44 million and that would leave just 107.59 million private payroll jobs. That’s the least since January 1999, when there were 107.40 million. ..........."

http://blogs.investors.com/capitalhill/index.php/home/35-politics/1250-zero-private-sector-jobs-created-in-past-11-years

Live links for reference.

________

http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2010/01/28/state-of-the-union-fact-check/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Cato-at-liberty+%28Cato+at+Liberty%29

January 28, 2010 Posted by Paul at 12:22 PM

Source Powerlineblog.com

"During the oral argument in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, Seth Waxman, the former Solicitor General of the United States who was representing John McCain and other campaign finance law sponsors, asserted that the plaintiffs' position was contrary to the thrust of more than 50 years of Supreme Court precedent. Justice Alito said that this argument -- or "sound bite," as he characterized it -- is "perplexing." He noted that the issue before the Court was merely the validity of two precedents that don't date back that far.

Justice Alito's concern turned out to be prescient when, in his State of the Union address, President Obama (Mr. Sound Bite, himself) claimed that the Supreme Court's decision in Citizens United "reversed a century of law to open the floodgates for special interests - including foreign corporations - to spend without limit in our elections." Even Waxman had not made this claim at oral argument, although Solicitor General Kagan and Justice Sotomayor threw the number 100 around in this connection.

Last night, Justice Alito reportedly responded to Obama's sound bite by quietly saying something like "that's not true." Alito was right at least two levels. First, as noted above and as Linda Greenhouse acknowledges, Citizens United did not disturb any principles that date back 100 years.

Second, as Shannen Coffin points out, the decision in Citizens United is quite clear that it does not address whether the government can regulate improper foreign influence over our electoral process. Writing for the majority, Justice Kennedy stated: "We need not reach the question whether the Government has a compelling interest in preventing foreign individuals or associations from influencing our Nation's political process."

Presidents should feel free to criticize important Supreme Court decisions with which they disagree. It's bad form, however, to do so at an event where Justices are in attendance by invitation. And it is unconscionable to do so by blatantly misrepresenting what the Court has said.

It also seems like bad politics. It's understandable that Obama wants to pose as a populist, although he's not terribly convincing in the role. But the Supreme Court isn't a bank or an insurance company; it's a reasonably respected institution, as branches of government go. Moreover, Obama and his writers must have known they would be called on his misrepresentation of the Citizens United decision. Nor is it likely that the Court's swing voter, Justice Kennedy (author of the decision) was amused.

I'm pleased that Justice Alito did not wait around for bloggers and media fact checkers to discover that Obama's statements about the decision are false. Now the president has a reason, other than the apparently insufficient one of good manners, not to attack the Supreme Court when its Justices are present.

JOE adds the videotape:

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/01/025479.php

You decide.

_______________

"Certain Fascist Affinities

By Jeffrey Kuhner
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jul/11/certain-fascist-affinities/
July 11, 2009

"Soviet dictator Josef Stalin achieved one of the greatest propaganda victories of the 20th century. He convinced the West's political and intellectual class that communism and fascism are polar opposites. In fact, the very opposite is true: fascism is a variant of left-wing ideology. Marxism and Nazism are political twins, offshoots of totalitarian socialism.

Admittedly, this insight is not mine. Rather, it is that of National Review's Jonah Goldberg, whose brilliant book, "Liberal Fascism," has just been issued in paperback. Mr. Goldberg's central thesis is that, contrary to leftist myth, there is no such thing as "right-wing fascism."

During its golden age in the 1930s, fascism was widely viewed as a "progressive" ideology that championed economic modernization, active social welfare policies and the Leviathan state. Italian strongman Benito Mussolini and German dictator Adolf Hitler were self-proclaimed men of the left. Both leaders understood that fascism was a form of revolutionary socialism.

What differentiated Hitlerism from Bolshevism was its blood-and-soil ultra-nationalism and emphasis on the primacy of race.

Moreover, fascists sought to tether the private sector to statist social engineering. Fascism competed with Marxist-Leninism to be the successor to parliamentary democracy and capitalism -- widely viewed as moribund.

The only real opponent of fascism has been conservatism, which champions small government, free markets, Judeo-Christian civilization and individual rights. It's no accident Hitler's greatest foe was British Tory Prime Minister Winston Churchill.

Both Hitler and Mussolini were national socialists. They were militant pagans hostile to Christianity, religious orthodoxy and tradition. They believed in the cult of personality, mass propaganda and the pseudo-spiritual transformational nature of politics: charismatic leadership as a means of fulfilling people's deepest aspirations. They glorified the state, as well as the subordination of the individual and the family to the collective. They created a corporatist economy that combined big business, big labor and big government. They emphasized the nationalization of key industries, redistribution of wealth, massive public works projects and trade protectionism. They established a so-called "social safety net" through national health care, unemployment insurance and government pensions. They erected a cradle-to-grave welfare state.

Fascist social policy was so popular that President Franklin Roosevelt incorporated much of it in the New Deal.

Embarrassed by the horrors of World War II and Auschwitz, the West's liberal elite disowned Hitler and then falsely portrayed him as a reactionary right-winger.

Yet fascism's leftist heritage cannot be denied. It explains Mr. Obama's relentless consolidation of power. He is America's most radical president. At his core, Mr. Obama is a liberal fascist, fusing statism with postmodern multiculturalism.

During his first six months in office, he has expanded government power to an extent unimaginable even a year ago. He is spending hundreds of billions on infrastructure projects. He has nationalized banks, the financial sector and the auto industry. His regulatory policies represent an unprecedented intervention in the economy. He wants to nationalize health care. He supports the House-passed climate bill, which would impose the largest tax increase in U.S. history, enforce crushing environmental mandates on business and industry, and transform America into a "green" economy.

In short, Mr. Obama is slowly erecting a corporatist state that will solidify one-party liberal rule for generations.

Mr. Obama has fostered a cult of personality -- achieving almost mystical celebrity status among his supporters. During his presidential campaign, he constantly put forth a quasi-religious conception of his candidacy and movement: "We are the ones we've been waiting for." To many of his backers, Mr. Obama was simply "The One," a political messiah who at mass rallies often induced crying and hysteria.

Fascists have celebrated racialism and ethnic chauvinism; Mr. Obama's liberal fascism is no different -- except, it has morphed into postmodern identity politics. Take his Supreme Court nominee, Judge Sonia Sotomayor. She is an unabashed racialist, who believes in Hispanic cultural supremacy. She also embraces the pernicious doctrine of "inherent physiological and cultural differences" among groups. For her, race, ethnicity and gender trump a common American heritage.

Under Mr. Obama's fascist regime, it is not Jews, Slavs or Gypsies who are murdered, but unborn babies. He is an extreme pro-choice supporter, even opposing the ban on partial-birth abortion. He has vowed to eventually pass the Freedom of Choice Act, which would codify legalized abortion and dismantle all restrictions.

Mr. Obama is not a Hitler or a Mussolini. He is not a crypto-dictator. Nor does he believe in an authoritarian police state or territorial expansionism. But Hitler and Mussolini were men of a different age, time and national culture; their fascism was distinctly German and Italian.

Mr. Obama's fascism is uniquely American. His revolution is not of blood and iron, but of pork and bailouts. His fascism is a potent mix of incremental socialism, messianic liberalism and puritanical environmentalism. It is not the crude militarism of the jackboot but the sugar-coated, forced spoon-feeding of the nanny state.

It may be softer, more civilized and sophisticated. But it is just as destructive to economic freedom and individual liberty."

Jeffrey T. Kuhner is a columnist at The Washington Times and the President of the Edmund Burke Institute, a Washington think tank.

http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/Articles/Certain%20Fascist%20Affinities.html

"Obama's answer for America: more of me

Jonah Goldberg
Posted:  3:00 AM, January 28, 2010
Source New York Post

"There's a story of an ex hausted tenor at La Scala who, facing repeated cries of "Encore," responded that he couldn't go on. A man rose in the audience to say, "You'll keep singing until you get it right."

That seems to be the defining principle of the Obama administration -- whose response to every problem, every setback, every hiccup and challenge has been, simply, "more Obama."

Indeed, for people who aren't sticklers for political jargon, it will be a shock that last night was Obama's first State of the Union Address, since it was his third formal address to a joint session of Congress. Yet for all of the political déjà vu, what was most surprising last night was the degree to which Obama delivered even more of the same.

Washington graybeards and pundits have been insisting that Obama needs to "start over," "reboot" and "tack to the middle" after Scott Brown's win in Massachusetts. But Obama's response last night was to recommit himself to the agenda that has gotten him in so much trouble.

In fairness, the president took a French-bath of Clintonism before he took to his beloved TelePrompTer. He doused himself with the scent of the deficit-fighter and trade-promoter. He unveiled a slew of small, easy, applause-gathering proposals and populist appeals that he knows will go nowhere.

He also indulged in a lot of feel-your-pain pathos, trying to connect with the real Americans suffering from the recession and the misdeeds of a "Washington" that Obama seems to think is run by someone other than him.

But the eau-de-Clinton couldn't mask the stench -- and Obama, in his supreme arrogance, didn't really seem to care.

There was no "pivot to the center," no serious accounting for the Massachusetts miracle or his misfortunes. Instead, there was an innumerate, inaccurate and distinctly unpresidential whine -- blaming George W. Bush for nearly all of his problems (leaving out, among other things, that the Democrats have been controlling Congress and crafting budgets since 2006).

The White House insists that the new wave of populism created by Democratic governance is, in fact, the same populist wave that carried Obama to victory in 2008. In other words, Obama was elected president by the backlash against his own presidency.

This novel theory allows Obama to stick to his view that there's nothing wrong with his health-care plan, and anyone who feels differently hasn't heard or understood the president's explanations.

So, he not only implored Democrats not to "run for the hills" on the health-reform bill, but insisted that as "temperatures cool," hot-tempered opponents will, of course, realize they were wrong about the bill.

Obama began his presidency insisting that government is the answer to our problems. A year later, he still believes that the era of big government is upon us.

In the same speech in which he preened over a gallingly gimmicky "spending freeze," the president promised more jobs bills, more "investments" in schools, roads, trains and factories. He even reaffirmed his support for his carbon-tax legislation -- which would send far more jobs overseas than it would create here at home.

But Obama has a bigger problem: Aside from a few throwaway lines of self-deprecation, whenever he grew passionate, it was to blame others.

His predecessor topped his list, of course. But also everyone else who disagrees with him.

Obama insists that Americans need to muster the courage to agree with him, to sign on to his agenda. Just as at Omaha Beach and Bull Run, Americans need to show their mettle. "Again, we are tested. And again, we must answer history's call." That "call" is the call of Obama.

"I never suggested that change would be easy, or that I can do it alone." So come on, you slackers, fall into line.

He decried the politicians who are in "permanent campaign" mode -- the same week he brought into the White House his campaign manager.

Other politicians are vain, cowardly and insubstantial. They need the courage to change. Meanwhile, Obama is great the way he is.

That is the attitude that has gotten the president in so much trouble. And last night's State of the Union speech showed us that change really isn't easy, particularly for the president."

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/obama_answer_for_america_more_of_1IboSZ3t6WFW12qZnpv10J

Whoever is doing Georgia Lottery commercials now has a great imagination!  Good luck to all playing them!

__________

YouTube - Georgia Lottery Maximum Green TV commercial

YouTube - Georgia Lottery Red Hot Millions TV commercial

Very interesting opinion voiced by Rep. Ron Paul.  You decide.

___________

http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/35490/

Since stuff like this gets passed around in email, best to be forewarned.

_____

Upon execution, the malware will attempt to spread through removable media using a time-based logic bomb, and overwrite the MBR (Master Boot Record) of all available drives after 40 days for variant A, and 20 days for variant B, making the host’s data inaccessible. .........."

"Rep. Marion Berry's parting shot, published in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette [no link, subscription only] offers a warning to moderate Democrats and border state moderates — warning of a midterm bloodbath comparable to the 54-seat D-to-R swing in 1994.

But the jaw-dropper is Berry's claim that President Obama personally dismissed any comparison between Democrats now and under Bill Clinton 16 years ago — by saying his personal popularity would bail everybody out.

The retiring Berry, who doesn't say when the remarks were made, now scoffs at Obama's 50-or-below approval rating:

Writes ADG reporter Jane Fullerton:

Berry recounted meetings with White House officials, reminiscent of some during the Clinton days, where he and others urged them not to force Blue Dogs “off into that swamp” of supporting bills that would be unpopular with voters back home.

“I’ve been doing that with this White House, and they just don’t seem to give it any credibility at all,” Berry said. “They just kept telling us how good it was going to be. The president himself, when that was brought up in one group, said, ‘Well, the big difference here and in ’94 was you’ve got me.’ We’re going to see how much difference that makes now.” [snip]

“I began to preach last January that we had already seen this movie and we didn’t want to see it again because we know how it comes out,” said Arkansas’ 1st District congressman, who worked in the Clinton administration before being elected to the House in 1996... "I just began to have flashbacks to 1993 and ’94. No one that was here in ’94, or at the day after the election felt like. It certainly wasn’t a good feeling.”

Posted by Glenn Thrush 10:01 AM

http://www.politico.com/blogs/glennthrush/0110/Berry_Obama_said_big_difference_between_10_and_94_is_me.html

Poised ready to shove climate change (aka global warming) down our throats in Copenhagen  .... he's just now discovering OTHERS' errors????????????????? 

___________

From The Times
January 23, 2010
"UN climate change expert: there could be more errors in report
Jeremy Page, South Asia Correspondent

Rajendra Pachauri (photo)

"The Indian head of the UN climate change panel defended his position yesterday even as further errors were identified in the panel's assessment of Himalayan glaciers.

Dr Rajendra Pachauri dismissed calls for him to resign over the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change’s retraction of a prediction that Himalayan glaciers could disappear by 2035.

But he admitted that there may have been other errors in the same section of the report, and said that he was considering whether to take action against those responsible.

“I know a lot of climate sceptics are after my blood, but I’m in no mood to oblige them,” he told The Times in an interview. “It was a collective failure by a number of people,” he said. “I need to consider what action to take, but that will take several weeks. It’s best to think with a cool head, rather than shoot from the hip.”

The IPCC’s 2007 report, which won it the Nobel Peace Prize, said that the probability of Himalayan glaciers “disappearing by the year 2035 and perhaps sooner is very high”.

But it emerged last week that the forecast was based not on a consensus among climate change experts, but on a media interview with a single Indian glaciologist in 1999.

The IPCC admitted on Thursday that the prediction was “poorly substantiated” in the latest of a series of blows to the panel’s credibility.

Dr Pachauri said that the IPCC’s report was the responsibility of the panel’s Co-Chairs at the time, both of whom have since moved on.

They were Dr Martin Parry, a British scientist now at Imperial College London, and Dr Osvaldo Canziani , an Argentine meteorologist. Neither was immediately available for comment.

“I don’t want to blame them, but typically the working group reports are managed by the Co-Chairs,” Dr Pachauri said. “Of course the Chair is there to facilitate things, but we have substantial amounts of delegation.”

He declined to blame the 25 authors and editors of the erroneous part of the report , who included a Filipino, a Mongolian, a Malaysian, an Indonesian, an Iranian, an Australian and two Vietnamese.

The “co-ordinating lead authors” were Rex Victor Cruz of the Philippines, Hideo Harasawa of Japan, Murari Lal of India and Wu Shaohong of China.

But Syed Hasnain, the Indian glaciologist erroneously quoted as making the 2035 prediction, said that responsibility had to lie with them. “It is the lead authors — blame goes to them,” he told The Times. “There are many mistakes in it. It is a very poorly made report.”

He and other leading glaciologists pointed out at least five glaring errors in the relevant section.

It says the total area of Himalyan glaciers “will likely shrink from the present 500,000 to 100,000 square kilometers by the year 2035”. There are only 33,000 square kilometers of glaciers in the Himalayas.

A table below says that between 1845 and 1965, the Pindari Glacier shrank by 2,840m — a rate of 135.2m a year. The actual rate is only 23.5m a year.

The section says Himalayan glaciers are “receding faster than in any other part of the world” when many glaciologists say they are melting at about the same rate.

An entire paragraph is also attributed to the World Wildlife Fund, when only one sentence came from it, and the IPCC is not supposed to use such advocacy groups as sources.

Professor Hasnain, who was not involved in drafting the IPCC report, said that he noticed some of the mistakes when he first read the relevant section in 2008.

That was also the year he joined The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Delhi, which is headed by Dr Pachauri.

He said he realised that the 2035 prediction was based on an interview he gave to the New Scientist magazine in 1999, although he blamed the journalist for assigning the actual date.

He said that he did not tell Dr Pachauri because he was not working for the IPCC and was busy with his own programmes at the time.

“I was keeping quiet as I was working here,” he said. “My job is not to point out mistakes. And you know the might of the IPCC. What about all the other glaciologists around the world who did not speak out?”

Dr Pachauri also said he did not learn about the mistakes until they were reported in the media about 10 days ago, at which time he contacted other IPCC members. He denied keeping quiet about the errors to avoid disrupting the UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen, or discouraging funding for TERI’s own glacier programme.

But he too admitted that it was “really odd” that none of the world’s leading glaciologists had pointed out the mistakes to him earlier. “Frankly, it was a stupid error,” he said. “But no one brought it to my attention.”

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6999051.ece

"Scorned Mistress of Married Obama Adviser Posts Billboards Nationwide

 Friday, January 22, 2010

Source FoxNews

Jan 22: A mistress catapulted retribution by plastering the country with billboards that show her nuzzling her married lover, an Obama adviser.

On first glance, it could be the ultimate Valentine's Day card -- a gigantic billboard that towers over New York's Times Square, featuring a happy couple with the text: "You are my soulmate forever, Charles & YaVaughnie."

But as every scorned lover knows, looks can be deceiving. This billboard -- which also has gone up in Atlanta and San Francisco -- is the ultimate act of revenge -- a very public retaliation by a dumped mistress aimed at a very wealthy, and married, businessman who is an adviser to President Obama.

YaVaughnie Wilkins posted the signs after she learned that her lover, Charles E. Phillips — president and director of the tech conglomerate Oracle Corporation and a member of Obama's Economic Recovery Advisory Board — had reconciled with his wife, the New York Post reported.

The billboards -- there are three in New York and one apiece in Atlanta and San Francisco, where Phillips lives -- may have cost Wilkins up to $250,000, at an estimated $50,000 each.

After the billboards surfaced, Phillips fessed up to his longtime affair through a spokesman on Thursday.

"I had an 8-and-a-half-year serious relationship with YaVaughnie Wilkins. The relationship with Ms. Wilkins has since ended, and we both wish each other well," he said.

The billboards also feature a URL of the Web site www.charlesphillipsandyavaughniewilkins.com, which features photos of Phillips' and Wilkins' lengthy relationship.

In an Oracle newsletter from 2006, Phillips was described as an ex-marine and "family man" who has a wife and 10-year-old son, Chas, the New York Times reported."

Found this on Powerline, way too good to pass up!

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YouTube - The Day ObamaCare Died - Sung by Barack Obama.avi

Crystal clear demonstration of Specter's arrogance and rude demeanor.  No excuse whatsoever for his level of impoliteness and condescension. 

Second video follow up interview with Bachman.

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RealClearPolitics - Video - Specter Tells Bachmann To Act Like A "Lady"

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2010/01/21/specter_tells_bachmann_to_act_like_a_lady.html

Link to this article found on Powerlineblog.com.  Awesome background information about Mr. Larry Platt!

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'Pants on the Ground': a scolding for young'uns on 'American Idol'

The ditty 'Pants on the Ground,' by Atlanta civil rights icon Larry Platt, made its debut Wednesday on 'American Idol' – and its ridicule of low-rider pants seems to be resonating.

Veteran civil rights activist and American Idol contestant Larry Platt performs his original composition, 'Pants on the Ground.'

Screenshot from YouTube

Source The Christian Science Monitor

By Patrik Jonsson Staff writer / January 14, 2010

Atlanta

"General" Larry Platt, whose original ditty "Pants on the Ground" cracked up everyone on "American Idol" Wednesday night, is not your standard "Idol" outtake (and not only because he's well over the cut-off age of 28).

Beaten by law officers during the 1965 "Bloody Sunday" march in Alabama, Mr. Platt was nicknamed "General" by Atlanta civil rights icon Hosea Williams for his heroic role in the civil rights era. (See a picture here. Platt is the young man on the left looking at the camera.) These days, Platt is going at it alone, protesting that too-stubborn urban fashion statement: pants worn low, crotch almost at the knees – a sign, to many, of disrespect and a thumb in the eye to many civil rights activists like Platt who fought to raise the profile of black Americans in US society.

Sure, some communities – including Atlanta – have tried (with dubious success) to outlaw the fashion statement, saying low-rider pants are obscene. But Platt's catchy ditty about youths with gold in their mouths, baseball caps turned sideways, and "looking like a fool with your pants on the ground" could do more to discourage the look than any local ordinance, especially now that his tune is getting remixed on YouTube. Unusually cheery, "Idol" grump Simon Cowell predicted: "I have a horrible feeling that song could be a hit."

Already, it's a ring tone, and there's a Facebook campaign charging ahead to get Platt a record deal. His message runs deeper, at least, than that of "Idol" hopeful William Hung (also on YouTube).

Platt has long been a presence at Atlanta City Council meetings, and his latest mission has been to protest widespread foreclosures in Atlanta's mostly black neighborhoods. Even the Georgia legislature has hailed Platt for his "outstanding service" in the community, and the city of Atlanta proclaimed Sept. 4, 2001, to be Larry Platt Day.

Seems appropriate that "Idol" would give him a nod, allowing America a perhaps overdue glimpse at one of Atlanta's unique personalities."

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0114/Pants-on-the-Ground-a-scolding-for-young-uns-on-American-Idol

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100121/ap_on_bi_ge/us_health_care_overhaul

Salt 'n pepper on that crow?????? 

Hate hackers with a passion but the world is eternally endebted to whoever posted those climategate emails.

____________

It emerged last week that the prediction was based not on a consensus among climate change experts but on a media interview with a single Indian glaciologist in 1999. That scientist, Syed Hasnain, has now told The Times that he never made such a specific forecast in his interview with the New Scientist magazine.

“I have not made any prediction on date as I am not an astrologer but I did say they were shrinking fast,” he said. “I have never written 2035 in any of my research papers or reports.” Professor Hasnain works for The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) in Delhi, which is headed by Rajendra Pachauri, head of the climate change panel.

Dr Pachauri has defended the panel’s work, while trying to distance himself from Professor Hasnain by saying that the latter was not working at the institute in 1999: “We slipped up on one number, I don’t think it takes anything away from the overwhelming scientific evidence of what’s happening with the climate of this Earth.”

Professor Hasnain confirmed that he had given an interview to Fred Pearce, of New Scientist, when he was still working for Jawaharlal Nehru University in 1999. “I said that small glaciers in the eastern and central Himalaya are declining at an alarming rate and in the next 40-50 years they may lose substantial mass,” he said. “That means they will shrink in area and mass. To which the journalist has assigned a date and reported it in his own way.” Mr Pearce was not immediately available for comment.

Despite the controversy, the IPCC said that it stood by its overall conclusions about glacier loss this century in big mountain ranges including the Himalayas. “This conclusion is robust, appropriate, and entirely consistent with the underlying science and the broader IPCC assessment,” it said.

The scandal threatens to undermine the panel’s credibility as it begins the marathon process of drafting its Fifth Assessment Reports, which are due out in 2013-14. Georg Kaser, a leading Austrian glaciologist who contributed to the 2007 report, described the glacier mistake as huge and said that he had warned colleagues about it months before publication.

The error is also now being exploited by climate sceptics, many of whom are convinced that stolen e-mail exchanges last year revealed a conspiracy to exaggerate the evidence supporting global warming.

Jairam Ramesh, the Indian Environment Minister, said on Tuesday the scandal vindicated his position that there was no proof that Himalayan glaciers were melting abnormally fast. “The IPCC claim that glaciers will vanish by 2035 was not based on an iota of scientific evidence,” he said.

Monitoring Himalayan glaciers is extremely difficult because most of them lie in some of the most inhospitable terrain in the word at an altitude of more than 5,000 metres (16,000ft).

Most studies until now have therefore been based necessarily on a mixture of outdated and incomplete data, satellite imagery, photography, and anecdotal evidence.

Last year, however, TERI launched a project to install high-tech sensors on three glaciers which it will use as benchmarks to assess the situation across the Himalayas.

Professor Hasnain, who is running the project, said that he would soon be presenting a report on the status of Himalayan glaciers, based on research works by Indian and international scientists published in different peer reviewed journals across the world.

He hopes that these studies will help to produce more incontrovertible evidence that the Himalayan glaciers are under threat. In the short term, however, it seems they will do little to convince climate change sceptics, or to repair the image of the IPCC."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/environment/article6994774.ece

The government can not create money, it *collects* money through taxes. 

The government can only create debt .... and puts us on the hook to repay it.

Get the big picture in the scenario below, the government obligates us to pay if lenders lose money.  Lenders repay the government ... not us who are the guarantors of the of this deal ..... and the government finds something else to p|$$ it away on other than lowering taxes.

"Under this arrangement the government sets the interest rates lenders may charge students. In return, the government reimburses lenders if market interest rates rise above the interest rates on the loans – in essence, the government reimburses private lenders if they begin losing money on the loans.
 
In return, the lenders agree to return any windfall profits made from the loans to the government. In other words, if market interest rates fall below the interest rates of the loans, the lenders pay the government the difference.
 
The government also agrees to reimburse the lenders should a student default.

_______________

"Obama to Nationalize Student Lending with Pending Budget Bill
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
By Matt Cover, Staff Writer

http://cnsnews.com/news/article/60074

Very plainly stated ... if you don't like plain talk don't click the link.

_____

"A Warning To The Washington DC Establishment - The Market Ticker
http://market-ticker.org/archives/1877-A-Warning-To-The-Washington-DC-Establishment.html

Hope this vaporizes from her clawing grasp just like climate-gate did for global warming zealots.

___________

Monday, Jan 18, 2010 20:19 EST

"Pelosi: "We will have healthcare -- one way or another"

 "House speaker sounds confident of reform passage, even with a big loss for Democrats possibly on the horizon

By Alex Koppelman

Source Salon.com

http://www.salon.com/politics/war_room/2010/01/18/pelosi/index.html?source=rss&aim=/politics/war_room

From Powerline, this is gooood! 

__________

January 19, 2010 Posted by Scott at 7:27 AM

Source Powerlineblog.com

"They scheduled a coronation in Massachusetts and, against all odds, a campaign broke out. They took away the governor's power of appointment to foil Mitt Romney in the event that John Kerry was elected president in 2004. Thank you, Democrats of Massachusetts. Life is funny that way, and so therefore is politics, every once in a while.

Scott Brown is the man of the hour. With coolness and perspicacity, he has given voice to the present discontents and sober second thoughts of his fellow citizens. By staking his candidacy on opposition to the Democratic agenda, to one party rule, to the insane national security policy that passes as the higher wisdom in the Obama administration, and to the arrogance of the elites who brook no offense to their majesty, he has contributed to the tidal wave he is riding.

In doing so he has displayed grace under pressure. When moderator and twit for all seasons David Gergen came at Brown with a haymaker in the debate last week, Brown landed a telling blow of his own, and not just against Gergen. Brown's renaming of "the Kennedy seat" as "the people's seat" will survive this campaign whether he wins or loses.

Brown has the common touch. It is symbolized by his truck. He has toured Massachusetts in a 2005 GMC Canyon pickup truck with almost 200,000 miles on the odometer. USA Today notes: "He features the truck in his campaign ads to show he is an everyman in touch with blue-collar and independent voters."

George Burns is reputed to have said that sincerity is everything. If you can fake that, you've got it made. But how about the common touch? As Martha Coakley has demonstrated, it's tough to fake.

There's something about that truck. How many times did Obama mention it in his speech at Coakley's rally in Boston at Northeastern on Sunday? I think the over/under is 15. With that truck Brown got inside Obama's head like a trash talking football stud running down his opponent's mama to throw him off his game.

"He's driving his truck around the commonwealth and he says that he gets you," Obama said of Brown at the rally. "Everybody can run slick games," he added. "Forget the truck. Anybody can buy a truck."

In a campaign that has contributed a lot of memorable quotes, Obama's late entry should not be ignored. Remember the truck! If you're registered to vote in Massachusetts, and if you have a message to deliver, don't forget to vote either."

http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/01/025419.php

Steve Quayle cartoon of the day.  Concept has gone through several incarnations but this one seems most pertinent now.

http://www.stevequayle.com/News.alert/10_Photo_of_Day/100118.photo.of.day.b.html

Discussion about Coakley's prosecution of two different cases providing an interesting picture of her judicial temperament.

___________

Shifting gears Saturday morning, this gem came in email ...... great ideas.  Toward the bottom contains live links to pretty cool source sites.  Enjoy! 

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"30 Power Words To Activate Intention Setting

"Setting new year resolutions appears to be passe amongst spiritually-aware personal development experts. More people are recommending using intentions or themes to guide our directions at the start of a new year.

Since two years ago, I have also personally found it more helpful to be setting intentions rather than be engaged in traditional resolution setting. In fact, I have found that the use of power words and phrases – to encapsulate the essence or the meaning of the intent – very effective.

Setting Intentions and New Year Resolutions
What is the difference, you may ask? Well, my perspective comes from personal experience. For the most part, new year resolution setting has been pretty much a left-brained activity for me. My resolutions were externally driven or were chosen because they would make me look good. In fact, it was easy to simply adopt a few – if not one – from a pool of widely known ones. Well, as far as I could remember, I never quite stuck to my New Year Resolutions as soon as I have made them.

On the other hand, picking the right intentions involves our intuition. It requires an awareness of our inner desires, the stirring of our heart. It is about bringing ourselves into alignment. The alignment is with a desired aspect of life that we are working on.

Because it is about aligning ourselves, setting intentions also comes with addressing our resistances. Inner work may be required when we observe that we are out-of-alignment. Throughout the year, based on our ongoing experiences, it may be necessary to make any changes to our intents as appropriate.

The process does not generate any sense of perceived “failure” or not living up to our resolutions per se. Setting intents is not a once-a-year activity; rather it is a process that naturally unfolds as we evolve. Because of this, I keep an intention-setting journal by my bedside to keep track of changes arising throughout the year. It is interesting to note how my intents have shifted to today’s.

Power Words for Visioning
From studying the the science of visioning, I learn that it is a good idea to keep our intents or vision statements short and snappy. Having a power word, phrase or motto – that sums up the essence of what we desire – keeps us focused.

Indeed, the use of power words can serve as an ongoing mantra or motto. The Vision Board Book shared about the one compelling word for the Shroyers family that helped in achieving a life of their dreams. Keith Shroyer sprayed a wall – ten by twelve foot – in his living room with the word “freedom”. “Freedom” served as their guiding vision, motto and statement all rolled into one. Eventually, Keith moved from a dead-end job to a life of financial freedom. His family now lives in a boat.

While intention setting comes from within, it is not that we have to come up with something new. More importantly, choosing the appropriate power word or phrase to adopt for visioning must be able to elicit an emotional response from us. Power comes when we are able to connect deeply with the meaning behind the word, phrase or motto.

To help ignite inspiration, I came up with a list of 30 power words for those who are new to intention setting. I also provide some examples of actions that can be taken to support and activate each vision.

30 Power Words: A-Z Guide

1. Power Word: Abundance
Power Phrase: Inter-align with Abundance, Living in Abundance.
Power Action: Be expansive, let go of resistances and have a reverence for life.

2. Power Word: Action
Power Phrase: Just Do It, A thousand-Mile Journey Starts with a Single Step, Inspired Action.
Power Action: Take inspired action, avoid procrastination.

3. Power Word: Authenticity
Power Phrase: Authentic Expression, Be Who I am, Use My Voice.
Power Action: Connect to the truth of who I am.

4: Power Word: Balance
Power Phrase: Balance is Key to Wellness; Yin and Yang.
Power Action: Make time for priorities in life, restore inner and outer balance, study feng shui elements, go for yoga.

5. Power Word: Be
Power Phrase: Just Be.
Power Action: Focus more about being than doing, practice patience, just breathe.

6. Power Word: Clarity
Power Phrase: Insight, Be Awake, See Clearly.
Power Action: See big picture, avoid getting too caught up in the content of the story, practice insight meditation, wisdom from insight.

7. Power Word: Courage
Power Phrase: Live My Dreams, Fly.
Power Action: Take risks, be bold, go on adventures, master courage to do things differently.

8. Power Word: Creativity
Power Phrase: Creative Ideas on Tap, Creative Artist.
Power Action: Engage imagination, play and possibility.

9. Power Word: Dream
Power Phrase: Dare to Dream, I Dreamed a Dream, Dream Big, Dreams take Flight!
Power Action: Open myself to possibilities, engage in imagination.

10. Power Word: Equanimity
Power Phrase: Equanimity, Quality of Equanimity, Non-Attachment.
Power Action: Practice equanimity i.e. calm, centered, balanced and mindful awareness of the impermanence of things, sensations and experiences.

11. Power Word: Freedom
Power Phrase: Freedom from Fear, Financial Freedom, Freedom to Live.
Power Action: Let go of resistances, free to make choices.

12. Power Word: Gratitude
Power Phrase: Gratitude is Gold, Gratitude Rocks, Gratitude Now.
Power Action: Practice gratitude, count my blessings and share my gifts.

13. Power Word: Harmony / Peace / Serenity
Power Phrase: Let my Breath be my Guide; Love the Moment, Peace of Mind.
Power Action: Make peace with every moment, learn qi gong.

14. Power Word: Health
Power Phrase: Health is Wealth
Power Action: Practice mindful eating, make healthy food choices, exercise, stay healthy mentally.

15. Power Word: Intuition
Power Phrase: Intuitive Awareness, Intuitive Intelligence.
Power Action: Awaken and develop intuitive abilities.

16. Power Word: Joy
Power Phrase: Enjoy the Journey, Live it Up, Celebrate, Live Now, Happiness is Key to Success.
Power Action: Choose to be happy whatever the situation is, be light hearted, celebrate every small thing!

17. Power Word: Laughter
Power Phrase: Lightness of Being, Laughter is the Best Medicine.
Power Action: Look at the humor in each situation, avoid taking things too seriously, have fun.

18. Power Word: Love
Power Phrase: Love Thyself; Love is All Around.
Power Action: Practice unconditional self love and love for others.

19. Power Word: Money / Prosperity / Wealth
Power Phrase: I am a Money Magnet, Multiple Streams of Income, Financial Freedom
Power Action: Shatter limiting money beliefs, adopt prosperity consciousness, worry less but keep vibrations up.

20. Power Word: Oneness
Power Phrase: We are One.
Power Action: Let go of separation.

21. Power Word: Possibility
Power Phrase: Open to Possibility, Dwell in Possibility.
Power Action: Open to receiving, practice non-judgment, try new experiences.

22. Power Word: Power
Power Phrase: Step Into Power, Awaken My Potential.
Power Action: Let go of fears, step up, take charge.

23. Power Word: Presence / Mindfulness
Power Phrase: Live in the Now.
Power Action: Practice mindful awareness, give quality attention to the moment, meditate.

24. Power Word: Responsibility
Power Phrase: Live Deliberately, Take Charge, Power To Change.
Power Action: Commit to inner change, less blame of others, conscious living.

25. Power Word: Share
Power Phrase: Spread Love, Share my Divine Light.
Power Action: Practice loving kindness, lend a helping hand, share my gifts.

26. Power Word: Success
Power Phrase: I am a Winner, Success is Constancy to Purpose.
Power Action: Think success, dream big.

27. Power Word: Smile
Power Phrase: Window to My Soul, Language of Love.
Power Action: Smile to strangers, neighbors, etc.

28. Power Word: Space
Power Phrase: Make Space.
Power Actions: Clear the clutter, switch off TV, meditate.

29. Power Word: Spirituality
Power Phrase: Connect with God/Source/Guides, “I am a Spirit with a Human Experience”.
Power Action: Adopt good values, live consciously, mindful of ego, take wise actions, reverence for life, etc.

30. Power Word: Wellness
Power Phrase: Mind-Body-Spirit Harmony, Self Nurture.
Power Action: Make time for relaxation, de-stress, release negative emotions, let go of old baggage.

Sources for Power Words and Catchy Phrases
Still feeling stuck over what power phrases to use? The world is a huge resource. For inspiration, check out:

• Memorable Songs & Jingles. Look up The Best Songs Ever!
• Favorite Quotes. Use the keyword directory to a favorite quotes website.
• Poems. Hunt at Poem Hunter!
• Popular Advertisements. The advertising industry is great at coming up with slogans: The Advertising Hall of Fame.
• Popular Phrases. Use a tool: Phrase Finder.
• Make your own slogan. Use the Slogan Generator found here.

Less is More
Don’t make the mistake of cluttering your visioning or intention setting process with too many power words (see picture at the top of my post) either! My suggestion is to choose one or fewer than three at any one time. The picture below is a vision board that I made to illustrate the right use of power words….

Decided on yours already? What is/are yours, by the way?"

http://www.dreammanifesto.com/30-power-words-activate-intention-setting.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=30-power-words-to-activate-intention-setting

A bit more insight into the Dem Candidate in Mass.  Each commentary has a video along with some interesting quotes.  Permalinked.

________

A hot story today is how a reporter for The Weekly Standard was shoved to the ground by a Martha Coakley campaign worker when the reporter tried to ask Coakley why she was attending a fundraiser with lobbyists.

But another part of the story, as pointed out at HotAir, was that Coakley witnessed the assault and did nothing. Here is a photo showing Coakley looking at the reporter on the ground with the assailant standing over him, from HotAir [via The Weekly Standard]:

(photo available on TwitPic)

Coakley's non-reaction to the assault, even though she knew that the reporter only was trying to ask a question, is the big story here.

There is something to see here, so do not move along.

Update: David Hogberg at Investors Business Daily asks:

First, will she dismiss Meehan from her campaign?

Second, will she call the D.C. police or the district attorney and ask them to investigate and agree to testify against Meehan? Seems like the least she could do.

Update No. 2: h/t to a commenter for this, the attacker is an Obama appointee to the Broadcasting Board of Governors.

http://legalinsurrection.blogspot.com/2010/01/this-photo-may-change-election.html

"AP source: Obama seeking tax on biggest banks

" ......Asenior administration official said the tax, which officials arecalling a "financial crisis responsibility fee," would apply only tofinancial companies with assets of more than $50 billion. Those firms -estimated to amount to about 50 institutions - would have to pay thefee even though many did not accept any taxpayer assistance and mostothers already paid back their government infusions......."

   http://apnews.myway.com/article/20100114/D9D7FIMG0.html

"Amish families exempt from insurance mandate
HEALTH REFORM: People with religious objections can opt out

By MARC HELLER
TIMES WASHINGTON CORRESPONDENT
SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2010
Source WatertownDailyTimes.com

"WASHINGTON — Federal health care reform will require most Northern New Yorkers — but not all, it turns out — to carry health insurance or risk a fine.

Hundreds of Amish families in the region are likely to be free from that requirement.

The Amish, as well as some other religious sects, are covered by a "religious conscience" exemption, which allows people with religious objections to insurance to opt out of the mandate. It is in both the House and Senate versions of the bill, making its appearance in the final version routine unless there are last-minute objections.

Although the Amish consist of several branches, some more conservative than others, they generally rely upon a community ethic that disdains government assistance. Families rely upon one another, and communities pitch in to help neighbors pay health care expenses.
 
The Amish population has been growing in the north country, as well as in New York generally. The state ranks sixth nationally in Amish population and posted the biggest net increase in Amish households — 307 — from 2002 to 2007, according to the Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania.

Lawmakers reportedly included the provision at the urging of Amish constituents, although the legislation does not specify that community and the provision could apply to other groups as well, including Old Order Mennonites and perhaps Christian Scientists.

A professor and lawyer at Yeshiva University in New York complained last summer that exempting groups for religious reasons could run afoul of the Constitution. Marci A. Hamilton, who teaches at the University's Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, wrote at Findlaw.com in August, "If the government can tolerate a religious exemption, then it must do so evenhandedly among religious believers with the same beliefs. This is sheer favoritism for a certain class of religions, or even for one religion."

In her column, Ms. Hamilton speculated that lobbyists for the Christian Science Church were responsible for the provision, given their public stance that health care reform bills around the country should include religious exemptions. In an e-mail message Friday, she said she was unaware of the Amish interest in the bill and that their objections to the mandate surprised her because the Amish do buy vehicle insurance, for instance.

Ms. Hamilton said the exemption could harm the health of children whose families avoid medical care for religious reasons, although the Amish objections relate more to insurance than to medical care itself.

Congressional aides said the exemption is based on a carve-out the Amish have had from Social Security and Medicare taxes since the 1960s. Whether Amish businesses, however, would fall under the bill's mandates is still an open question.

Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., who was a key negotiator on the Senate bill, supports the religious exemption, said a spokesman, Maxwell Young, who called the provision a "no brainer."

http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/article/20100109/NEWS02/301099964

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Desperate-Dems-try-to-Palinize-Massachusetts-Senate-race-81198087.html

"It’s the people’s seat, and it’s up for grabs
By Jeff Jacoby Globe Columnist / January 12, 2010
Source Boston.com

"The policy differences between Democrat Martha Coakley and Republican Scott Brown were as clear during last night’s debate as they have been throughout this short special-election campaign.

Coakley supports ObamaCare, opposes the war in Afghanistan, and favors higher taxes on the wealthy. Brown is against the health care legislation, backs the president’s surge in Afghanistan, and wants across-the-board tax cuts à la JFK. Coakley is an EMILY’s List prochoice hard-liner; Brown condemns partial-birth abortion and is backed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life. Coakley has no problem with civilian trials for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Brown thinks it reckless to treat enemy combatants like ordinary defendants.

But the most striking thing about the debate was not that the very liberal Democrat and the not-especially-conservative Republican disagreed on the issues. It is that they are both viable candidates in a race too competitive to call. In Massachusetts!

“I don’t know what’s going to happen on Jan. 19th,’’ Coakley said. She wasn’t being coy. Nobody knows what’s going to happen next week.

When Ted Kennedy died five months ago, who would have guessed that the contest to replace him would be anything but a slam-dunk for the Democrats? Yet there was no slam-dunk on that stage last night, and the race certainly doesn’t feel like a slam-dunk now.

“It’s not the ‘Kennedy Seat,’ ’’ Brown has been reminding Coakley lately. “It’s the people’s seat.’’ Amazing thing is, he could be right.

http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2010/01/12/its_the_peoples_seat_and_its_up_for_grabs/

Our tax dollars at work.
__________

"CONGRESSIONAL SPENDING WASTE IN COPENHAGEN; 21 MEMBERS, ALL-EXPENSES PAID
Mon Jan 11 2010 15:08:56 ET

An exclusive report that will air tonight on CBS EVENING NEWS WITHKATIE COURIC reveals the alarmingly high number of members of Congresswho got an all-expense paid trip to Denmark -- on your dime!

An embargoed script from Sharyl Attkisson's report:

Few would argue with the US having a presence at the Copenhagen Climate Summit.

NATS OBAMA I'M ALWAYS HOPEFUL

(VO: Denmark beauty shot)

But wait until you hear what we found about how many in Congress got all-expense paid trips to Denmark... on your dime.

(VO)

Our camera spotted House Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the summit. She called the shots on who got to go.

That's House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer.

And there's the embattled Chairman of the Tax Committee Charles Rangel.

"NATS: YOU TAKIN' CARE OF MR. RANGEL? HE SURE IS!"

(VO)

They were joined by 17 colleagues from both parties: Democrats:Waxman, Miller, Markey, Gordon, Levin, Blumenauer, DeGette, Inslee,Ryan, Butterfield, Cleaver, Giffords, and Republicans: Barton, Upton,Moore Capito, Sullivan, Blackburn.

(ATTKISSON STANDUP)

And that's not the half of it. But finding out more was a bitlike trying to get the keys to Ft. Knox. Many referred us to SpeakerPelosi who wouldn't agree to an interview, give cost estimates or eventell us where they all stayed. Her office said it "will comply withdisclosure requirements."

(VO)

Senator Inhofe is one of the few who provided us any detail. Heattended the summit on his own for just a few hours, to give an"opposing view."

(SOT-INHOFE)

They're going because it's the biggest party of the year. The worst thing that happened there is they ran out of caviar.

(VO: JETS)

(MOVED) Our investigation found that the House delegation wasso large, it needed three military jets: two 737's and a GulfstreamFive. Up to 64 passengers -- travelling in luxurious comfort.

(VO)

Add Senators and staff, most of whom flew commercial, and we counted atleast 101 Congress-related attendees. All for a summit that failed todeliver a global climate deal.

(VO)

As a perk, some took spouses, since they could snag an openseat on a military jet or share a room at no extra cost to taxpayers.

(FLASH THRU VIDEO AT COPENHAGEN)

That's Congresswoman Giffords holding her husband's hand.

Moore Capito and her husband.

Markey took his wife - shown wearing red - (Susan Blumenthal) as did Sensenbrenner (Cheryl).

Congressman Barton-- a climate change skeptic-- even brought along his daughter, not shown here.

(VO)

Until required filings are made in the coming weeks, we can only figure bits and pieces of the cost to you.

(GRAPHIC 1)

Three military jets at $57-hundred dollars an hour. ($5,740) Dozens flew commercial at up to two thousand dollars each.

More than 300 (321) hotel nights booked - the bulk at Copenhagen's five-star Marriott.

Meals add tens of thousands more.

(VO)

Watchdog Steve Ellis wasn't against some sort of US presence but...considering the record deficit...

(SOT-STEVE ELLIS, TAXPAYERS FOR COMMON SENSE check)

7:22:48 EVERY PENNY COUNTS. CONGRESS SHOULD BE SHAKIN' THE COUCHCUSHIONS LOOKING FOR CHANGE, RATHER THAN SPENDING CASH FOR EVERYBODY TOGO TO COPENHAGEN. 23:00

(ATTKISSON STANDUP)

Nobody we asked would defend the super-sized Congressionalpresence on camera. One Democrat said it showed the world the US isserious about climate change.

(GRAPHIC: MILITARY JET WITH SMOKE AND FIGURES) And all thoseattendees who went to the summit rather than hooking up byteleconference? They produced enough climate-stunting carbon dioxide tofill 10,000 Olympic swimming pools. (40,500 tonnes/source: UN FrameworkConvention on Climate Change)

(VO: US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations/US Senators andStaff Only) Which means even if Congress didn't get a globalagreement...

00:03:01 "EXCUSE ME" CRASH! (SLAMS DOOR on CAMERA)

... they left an indelible footprint all the same. Sharyl Attkisson, CBS News, Washington.



Developing..."    http://www.drudgereport.com/flashcn.htm

"Depoliticizing the Weather Forecasters

"Bureaucracy, the rule of no one, has become the modern form of despotism.—Mary McCarthy

Exploitation by governments of global warming as a vehicle to take control requires drastic reaction. As climate became a political issue, bureaucrats in all countries expanded their role, became political and excluded independent experts. 

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) was set up for the political purpose of proving human CO2 emanating from developed nations was causing global warming. It continued as a political process as one of the leaked emails from the Climatic Research Unit (CRU) from Mike Hulme to Phil Jones on April 22, 2002 notes, “All these decisions about IPCC chairs and co-chairs are deeply political (witness DEFRA’s support of Martin Parry for getting the WGII nomination).” We must eliminate the IPCC as the most corrupt, and then urge all countries to reduce weather agencies to data collection only. Any weather or climate related government agency must be reduced to a single function, the accurate collection, storage, and accessibility of data for citizens. Weather forecasting is so unreliable and inadequate nobody would suffer from its loss. If forecasting is essential companies can do it themselves or see a business opportunity. Piers Corbyn, a British climatologist consistently produces accurate weather forecasts months in advance for all regions of the world. 

There are three main components to the CO2 deceptions

People are beginning to understand the level of the corruption; most of it related to CO2. There are three main components to the CO2 deceptions. First, the pre-industrial level, which they manipulated to show was lower than today.

Second the false assumption that CO2 increase preceded temperature increase. Third, the claim that increases in atmospheric CO2 was due to humans. Mann outlined the objectives when he joined CRU with an email on June 17, 1998,“I remain committed to doing this with you guys, and to explore applications to synthetic data sets with manufactured biases/etc remains high priority.” We now know how far they went.

They Only Learn To Protect Themselves Better

The IPCC made changes as people found flaws, but only to cover up, not improve. The most recent example is in the 2007 IPCC Report where they changed the definition of climate change. Here is the complete quote; “Climate change in IPCC usage refers to a change in the state of the climate that can be identified (e.g. using statistical tests) by changes in the mean and/or the variability of its properties, and that persists for an extended period, typically decades or longer. It refers to any change in climate over time, whether due to natural variability or as a result of human activity. This usage differs from that in the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), where climate change refers to a change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity that alters the composition of the global atmosphere and that is in addition to natural climate variability observed over comparable time periods.” This acknowledges criticism that you can’t determine human causes of change if you don’t know how much it changes naturally. However, it is another deception.

The Report then ignores major natural causes of temperature change and continues to focus on greenhouse gases specifically CO2. “Most of the observed increase in global average temperatures since the mid-20th century is very likely (90%) due to the observed increase in anthropogenic GHG concentrations. It is likely that there has been significant anthropogenic warming over the past 50 years averaged over each continent (except Antarctica).”  They don’t mean greenhouse gases? They effectively ignore water vapor and claim, “Global atmospheric concentrations of CO2, methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) have increased markedly as a result of human activities since 1750 and now far exceed pre-industrial values determined from ice cores spanning many thousands of years. This is an unsubstantiated and inaccurate comment especially when you don’t know how much natural inputs and outputs change. We know they manipulated pre-industrial CO2 levels, but they ignore the fact methane levels have leveled and declined for 14 years. Atmospheric water vapor levels are difficult to measure with accuracies no better than 20%. In a January 2009 report, Professor Zondio concluded,  “Surprisingly little is known about water vapor because it has been really hard to measure in the upper atmosphere. The new data suggests that these plumes are happening at a scale we had not imagined.” He’s talking about water rising in great updrafts in the atmosphere.

The IPCC use water vapor only to cover a problem and bolster another false claim

The IPCC use water vapor only to cover a problem and bolster another false claim. Even if CO2 doubles or triples temperature can only increase a small amount. The amount currently in the atmosphere, 385 ppm is almost 100% effective in delaying heat escaping to space. Imagine the atmosphere is like a window and you use one coat of black paint to block light by about 97%. A second coat reduces light but now by less than 3%.  The IPCC got around this problem by using a positive feedback. They claimed increasing human CO2 caused a temperature increase, which increased evaporation. More water vapor acting as a greenhouse gas led to higher temperatures. They built this positive feedback into their models. The trouble is it does not occur in reality. 

The claim human CO2 is responsible for global warming of the last 50 years is a based on two assumptions now falsified. First, was the claim CO2 stayed in the atmosphere (residency time) for at least 100 years. We now know it is about 5 years. Second, they said the level of human sourced CO2 would accumulate in the atmosphere. This is wrong as Professor Knorr showed in his November 7, 2009 article titled “Is the airborne fraction of anthropogenic CO2 emissions increasing?” His finding, “…the trend in the airborne fraction since 1850 has been 0.7 ± 1.4% per decade, i.e. close to and not significantly different from zero.” 

All data manipulation is not covered by the leaked emails. They claim CO2 from human sources rose from 6.5 gigatons of carbon (GtC) in their 2001 Report to 7.5 GtC in the 2007 Report. Trouble is the IPCC are the source of these numbers.  In a segment titled, “Source of National Inventories” they write,  “Utilizing IPCC procedures, nominated experts from around the world draft the reports that are then extensively reviewed twice before approval by the IPCC.”

In 2008 I wrote, “They define the rules, determine who the “nominated experts “ are, and have the final say in the numbers used. This is in keeping with their process of control and determination to prove their dictated goal of finding a human source of global warming.” Now the public knows the extent of the deceptions. We are dangerously close to what happened in the Soviet Union in the 1950s when, “Under Lysenko’s guidance, science was guided not by the most likely theories, backed by appropriately controlled experiments, but by the desired ideology. Science was practiced in the service of the State, or more precisely, in the service of ideology.”  We can shut down national and international government run weather and climate bureaucracies except as data collection agencies."

Can't post video here, link below.

70's global cold map compared with cold map today. 

___________

Jan 6, 2010; 8:40 AM ET

http://www.accuweather.com/video-on-demand.asp?video=44795589001&title=Worldwide%20Cold%20not%20Seen%20Since%2070s%20Ice%20Age%20Scare

Lengthy but so worth the time to read.

http://neithercorp.us/npress/?p=214

Muliple photos of train having to be dug out of snow.

Chinese site, Babelfish translation of first photo below.

_________

"On January 4, the fire soldier receives nearby the passenger train which in the Inner Mongolian business the storm sieges to remove snow the emergency. On January 3 18:00, the Inner Mongolian area has the heavy snow suddenly, when sends out Baotou's 1814 train line by Harbin to Ulanchap city Chahar right wing north banner Ben Hongzhi the Shangdu County 18 kilometers place, is sieged by the heavy snow in the big ravine, on the vehicle 1500 passenger is stranded.

http://shehui.daqi.com/editor/huandeng/ent_huandeng/2786059/1.html

Hat tip to my son for this video. 

Take a listen at 12:58, Mike Kim .... Cash for Clunkers was a Chinese brainchild program.  The US "had to send them a bunch of metal and steel instead of US dollars for them [Chinese] to give any type of credit to the US."

Overwhelm to the breaking point.  Here comes amnesty and automatic citizenship ...... shoving law abiding applicants for citizenship to the back of the line.

___________

Source Baltimoresun.com

http://www.baltimoresun.com/health/sns-dc-immig29-final,0,5744314,full.story

Ran across this last night. 

__________

http://pajamasmedia.com/instapundit/90962/

Interesting article.

___________

"Wikipedia's Climate Doctor

Posted: December 19, 2009, 2:53 AM

Source Network.Nationalpost.com 

"How Wikipedia’s green doctor rewrote 5,428 climate articles

By Lawrence Solomon

"The Climategate Emails describe how a small band of climatologists cooked the books to make the last century seem dangerously warm.

The emails also describe how the band plotted to rewrite history as well as science, particularly by eliminating the Medieval Warm Period, a 400 year period that began around 1000 AD.

The Climategate Emails reveal something else, too: the enlistment of the most widely read source of information in the world — Wikipedia — in the wholesale rewriting of this history.

The Medieval Warm Period, which followed the meanness and cold of the Dark Ages, was a great time in human history — it allowed humans around the world to bask in a glorious warmth that vastly improved agriculture, increased life spans and otherwise bettered the human condition.

But the Medieval Warm Period was not so great for some humans in our own time — the same small band that believes the planet has now entered an unprecedented and dangerous warm period. As we now know from the Climategate Emails, this band saw the Medieval Warm Period as an enormous obstacle in their mission of spreading the word about global warming. If temperatures were warmer 1,000 years ago than today, the Climategate Emails explain in detail, their message that we now live in the warmest of all possible times would be undermined. As put by one band member, a Briton named Folland at the Hadley Centre, a Medieval Warm Period “dilutes the message rather significantly.”

Even before the Climategate Emails came to light, the problem posed by the Medieval Warm Period to this band was known. “We have to get rid of the Medieval Warm Period” read a pre-Climategate email, circa 1995, as attested to at hearings of the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works. But the Climategate transcripts were more extensive and more illuminating — they provided an unvarnished look at the struggles that the climate practitioners underwent before settling on their scientific dogma.

The Climategate Emails showed, for example, that some members of the band were uncomfortable with aspects of their work, some even questioning the need to erase the existence of the Medieval Warm Period 1,000 years earlier.

Said Briffa, one of their chief practitioners: “I know there is pressure to present a nice tidy story as regards ‘apparent unprecedented warming in a thousand years or more in the proxy data’ but in reality the situation is not quite so simple. … I believe that the recent warmth was probably matched about 1,000 years ago.”  

In the end, Briffa and other members of the band overcame their doubts and settled on their dogma. With the help of the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the highest climate change authority of all, they published what became the icon of their movement — the hockey stick graph. This icon showed temperatures in the last 1,000 years to have been stable — no Medieval Warm Period, not even the Little Ice Age of a few centuries ago.

But the UN’s official verdict that the Medieval Warm Period had not existed did not erase the countless schoolbooks, encyclopedias, and other scholarly sources that claimed it had. Rewriting those would take decades, time that the band members didn’t have if they were to save the globe from warming.

Instead, the band members turned to their friends in the media and to the blogosphere, creating a website called RealClimate.org. “The idea is that we working climate scientists should have a place where we can mount a rapid response to supposedly ‘bombshell’ papers that are doing the rounds” in aid of “combating dis-information,” one email explained, referring to criticisms of the hockey stick and anything else suggesting that temperatures today were not the hottest in recorded time. One person in the nine-member Realclimate.org team — U.K. scientist and Green Party activist William Connolley — would take on particularly crucial duties.

Connolley took control of all things climate in the most used information source the world has ever known – Wikipedia. Starting in February 2003, just when opposition to the claims of the band members were beginning to gel, Connolley set to work on the Wikipedia site. He rewrote Wikipedia’s articles on global warming, on the greenhouse effect, on the instrumental temperature record, on the urban heat island, on climate models, on global cooling. On Feb. 14, he began to erase the Little Ice Age; on Aug.11, the Medieval Warm Period. In October, he turned his attention to the hockey stick graph. He rewrote articles on the politics of global warming and on the scientists who were skeptical of the band. Richard Lindzen and Fred Singer, two of the world’s most distinguished climate scientists, were among his early targets, followed by others that the band especially hated, such as Willie Soon and Sallie Baliunas of the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, authorities on the Medieval Warm Period.

All told, Connolley created or rewrote 5,428 unique Wikipedia articles. His control over Wikipedia was greater still, however, through the role he obtained at Wikipedia as a website administrator, which allowed him to act with virtual impunity. When Connolley didn’t like the subject of a certain article, he removed it — more than 500 articles of various descriptions disappeared at his hand. When he disapproved of the arguments that others were making, he often had them barred — over 2,000 Wikipedia contributors who ran afoul of him found themselves blocked from making further contributions. Acolytes whose writing conformed to Connolley’s global warming views, in contrast, were rewarded with Wikipedia’s blessings. In these ways, Connolley turned Wikipedia into the missionary wing of the global warming movement.

The Medieval Warm Period disappeared, as did criticism of the global warming orthodoxy. With the release of the Climategate Emails, the disappearing trick has been exposed. The glorious Medieval Warm Period will remain in the history books, perhaps with an asterisk to describe how a band of zealots once tried to make it disappear."

Lawrence Solomon is executive director of Energy Probe and Urban Renaissance Institute and author of The Deniers: The world-renowned scientists who stood up against global warming hysteria, political persecution, and fraud.

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/12/18/370719.aspx#ixzz0aLKdiueC

Well worth a 10 minute listen. 

Something non-political for a change.  Found this interesting, hope you do also.

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"Spy chiefs turn on President Obama after seven CIA agents are slaughtered in Afghanistan

By David Gardner
Last updated at 8:40 AM on 02nd January 2010
Source DailyMail.uk

"Barack Obama was accused of double standards yesterday in his treatment of the CIA.

The President paid tribute to secret agents after seven of them were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan.

In a statement, he said the CIA had been ‘tested as never before’ and that agents had ‘served on the front lines in directly confronting the dangers of the 21st century’.

He lauded the victims as ‘part of a long line of patriots who have made great sacrifices for their fellow citizens and for our way of life’.

Yet the previous day he had blasted ‘systemic failures’ in the CIA and other U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to prevent the Christmas Day syringe bomb attack.

Backlash: Agency officials are angry at the president's about face

‘One day the President is pointing the finger and blaming the intelligence services, saying there is a systemic failure,’ said one agency official. ‘Now we are heroes. The fact is that we are doing everything humanly possible to stay on top of the security situation. The deaths of our operatives shows just how involved we are on the ground.’

But CIA bosses claim they were unfairly blamed at a time the covert government agency has been stretched further than ever before in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

They point to the murder of seven operatives at a remote mountain base in Afghanistan’s Khost Province as an example of how agents are putting their lives on the line at the vanguard of America’s far-flung wars.

The agents – including the chief of the base, a mother-of-three - were collecting information about militants when the suicide bomber struck on Wednesday.

The attack was the deadliest single day for the agency since eight CIA officers were killed in the 1983 bombing of the US Embassy in Beirut.

The base targetted by Wednesday’s suicide bomber was a control centre for a covert programme overseeing strikes by remote-controlled aircraft along Afghanistan’s border with Pakistan.

‘Those who fell were far from home and close to the enemy, doing the hard work that must be done to protect our country from terrorism. We owe them our deepest gratitude,’ CIA Director Leon Panetta said.

Some CIA officials are angry at being criticised by the White House after Abdulmutallab, 23, was allowed to slip through the security net and board a US-bound flight in Amsterdam despite evidence he was a terror threat.

The president complained that a warning from the former London engineering student’s father and information about an al Qaeda bomb plot involving a Nigerian were not handled properly by the intelligence networks.

But CIA officials say the data was sent to the US National Counterterrorism Centre in Washington, which was set up after the 9/11 attacks as a clearing house where raw data should be analysed.

Agents claim that is where the dots should have been connected to help identify Abdulmutallab as a threat."

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1239941/Spy-chiefs-turn-President-Obama-seven-CIA-agents-slaughtered-Afghanistan.html