Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Fed Chief Bleak on Economic Outlook

Published: July 16, 2008

WASHINGTON — A sense of economic gloom gripped Washington on Tuesday as President Bush urged Americans not to lose faith, the Federal Reserve chairman offered a mostly bleak assessment of the difficulties ahead for the economy, and the administration’s latest effort to help the housing sector faced tough questioning in Congress.

Brendan Smialowski for The New York Times

Henry M. Paulson Jr., left, the Treasury secretary, on Tuesday with Christopher Cox, center, the S.E.C. chairman, and Ben Bernanke, the Fed chief.

Evan Vucci/Associated Press

President Bush tried to reassure Americans on Tuesday.

Despite widespread concern about losses suffered by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the two giant housing finance companies, the Bush administration’s call for quick passage of legislation to authorize the use of government funds to save them ran into heavy fire, especially among some Republicans concerned about taxpayer liability.

The opposition threatened to slow down the rescue plan, especially if lawmakers insist on making major changes to the package, which would allow the Bush administration to use the United States Treasury to help Fannie and Freddie by lending them money and buying their stock.

The latest trouble in the financial markets, rising energy prices and spreading joblessness were also sowing new discord among lawmakers, with Democrats calling for, and Republicans resisting, a new round of spending programs and tax cuts to stimulate the economy.

A day after reports of losses by regional banks, causing some depositors to pull their money out, Mr. Bush held an unscheduled news conference at which he felt compelled to remind Americans that their deposits were insured up to $100,000.

“My hope is that people take a deep breath and realize that their deposits are protected by our government,” the president said. He added that economic growth “was not the growth we’d like” but expressed confidence that the country would overcome “a time of uncertainty.” The nation’s troubled financial system is “basically sound,” he added.

Reacting to the latest dismal news, the Dow Jones industrial average closed down almost 93 points after a roller-coaster session, with the shares of the two mortgage finance companies continuing their steep slide. Fannie Mae fell 27 percent and Freddie Mac, 26 percent.

The Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, avoided the word “recession” but presented a generally gloomy picture, saying that consumer spending and exports were keeping growth “at a sluggish pace” while the housing sector “continues to weaken.”

“The economy has continued to expand, but at a subdued pace,” Mr. Bernanke said at another point. In one rare note of optimism, he revised upward the Fed’s growth estimate for the year and added that consumer spending had somewhat exceeded expectations.

The Fed chief spent the early morning testifying alone, as part of his twice-a-year appearances before Congress, and then joined Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. and Christopher Cox, chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sitting with them, he endorsed Mr. Paulson’s plan, unveiled on Sunday, to seek legislation to give the federal government temporary power to help Fannie and Freddie, and he also defended the Fed’s opening its own lending facility to the two agencies.

Mr. Bernanke offered no timetable for improved economic performance, declaring that while the risks to the overall economy were still “skewed to the downside,” inflation “seems likely to move temporarily higher in the near term.” The Fed, he said, needed to guard against higher prices’ spreading through the economy.

That mixed warning about rising costs and a downturn reinforced the message of last month’s meeting of the Federal Open Market Committee, the central bank’s policy-making body, that it would not cut interest rates further and, indeed, that higher rates might be necessary to combat inflation.

Despite snaking around branches of IndyMac Bank and a report from the chairwoman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation that more banks were expected to run into trouble, Mr. Bernanke said he did not think there was a significant danger to the banking sector, most of which he said remained profitable.

“Of course, all banks are being challenged by credit conditions now,” the Fed chief said in response to a question from Senator Richard C. Shelby, an Alabama Republican on the banking panel. “The good news is that the banking system did come into this episode extremely well capitalized, extremely profitable.”

But concerns that consumer banking could succumb to the ills of the credit crisis clearly rattled official Washington, as Mr. Bush’s citation of the federal government’s insurance of bank deposits made clear.

“The bottom line is this: We’re going through a tough time,” Mr. Bush said. “But our economy’s continued growing, consumers are spending, businesses are investing, exports continue increasing and American productivity remains strong.”

Reporting was contributed by Steven Lee Myers, Stephen Labaton and David M. Herszenhorn in Washington, and Michael M. Grynbaum in New York.

Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/16/business/economy/16econ.html?_r=1&th&emc=th&oref=slogin

"Generalisimo" Arbusto, The "Latin" American Dictator



Don Jorge Arbusto = George Bush

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The omniscient and omnipotent (I wonder if he can pronounce, let alone spell either words) President of the United States of America, has apparently transformed himself into a "Generalissimo", a la Banana Republic style.
The Latin American Despots, Trujillo, Peron, Pinochet, Batista, Somoza, Torrijos, and Franco, have found an American President who has learnt from their modus operandi.



Rafael L. Trujillo and Francisco Franco


Bush now constantly claims executive privilege when investigations are conducted in regards to his involvement in abuse of presidential powers; It's as if he is above the law. He's the Michael Jordan of Presidents: He plays his ball above the rim! He can do no wrong.
The morass that has become 'the war on terror', has bankrupted the nation, is partially his creation. Remember, the repetitive "Stay the Course", mantra? Yet, he claims that everything is fine; A rose garden, even. Yes, from his perspective (The White Hose), everything is simply rosy, and peachy. But, at ground level, here on terra firma americana, things are drastically different. Banks are failing; Airlines are dropping like flies; Gas prices are astronomical; Food prices are going thorough the ceiling; Lay-offs are increasing; The Dollar is practically worthless; and the rhetoric coming from 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is becoming harder to stomach as time progresses.

Yesterday, President Bush adamantly refuted the fact that the Nation is in a dire financial condition; He claimed that things aren't really so bad. That the economy is growing, the production rate is increasing, yada, yada, yada. What? As David Letterman is known to say. What?
Isn't peculiar, when at about the same time in Washington D.C., Ben Bernanke the Chairman of the FED, expressed the opposite of what Bush, blatantly denied? Bernanke told Congress that inflation "is too high" and reiterated that the Fed's aim is to achieve price stability.1

The President is out of touch, and is becoming more and more like a Latin American Dictator. Remember the photo opportunity on the Aircraft Carrier "Mission Accomplished" speech? He flew an aircraft onto that Navy Ship himself, in full in Air Force flight suit and helmet!


Was that reminiscent of Roger Ramjet, or what?
Or, was it more like Ramfis Trujillo (the eldest son of Dominican dictator Rafael L. Trujillo) who would fly himself from the Caribbean to Paris, France to attend a Polo match?

Firstly, he refuses to acknowledge his errors. Secondly, he has converted the American Constitution into a rag with which he blows his nose when he notices a nasal drip. He has created along with his cronies the behemoth that is the Dept.of Home Land Security; He has suspended habeas corpus rights, and implemented intrusive surveillance through his Patriot Acts; A gross misnomer; There's nothing patriotic about these restrictive "restraints on freedom" by any stretch of the imagination. Exchanging Rights for Security? Give us a break!
Is this still the United States of America? Or this the North American Union?

Lastly, he has single-handedly (I really doubt he's done this all by his own) transformed the thriving prosperous republic, that existed until he assumed his 'Iron Fist' regime; By subverting most of the established institutions provided by the U.S. Constitution: The Life, Liberty, and pursuit of Happiness of the U.S. Citizenry; And the Check and Balances placed on the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches of the American Constitutional Republic.
Beyond all this, the professed Methodist Bush is so much a kindred spirit with Benedict XVI, that he pulled out all the stops to paint the town red when his "mentor" came to D.C. Where was the separation of Church and State, on that occasion? On a Roman holiday? The Bishop of Rome is not only a head of a state (The Vatican), he's also head of Roman Catholic Church? As an American president you shouldn't endorse a particular religion, while exercising presidential duties; It's not Constitutional. Remember, the American motto: No pope, or King, but, Jesus.


Juan Francscio Peron


So, Jorge Arbusto is really like the Generalissimos of our Monroe Doctrine south, of yesteryear. They say that to remember is to re-live..Oh the memories.. It's like a renaissance all of the sudden with the United States becoming like a Latin American Dictatorship, with a Tejano at the helm. By the way, where's Jeb???
Mamasita, donde esta Santa Claus?
P.S. Remember the call for Pervez Musharaff The Chief of Pakistan to lose the uniform?


.
,

Arsenio.


Bush claims executive privilege on CIA leak

President Bush gestures in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July 15, 2008, where he called on Congress to move quickly to put into force legislation designed to prop up mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (AP Photo/Ron Edmonds)

AP Photo: President Bush gestures in the briefing room of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, July...

By LAURIE KELLMAN, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - President Bush has asserted executive privilege to prevent Attorney General Michael Mukasey from having to comply with a House panel subpoena for material on the leak of CIA operative Valerie Plame's identity.

A House committee chairman, meanwhile, held off on a contempt citation of Mukasey — who had requested the privilege claim — but only as a courtesy to lawmakers not present.

Among the documents sought by House Oversight Chairman Henry Waxman are FBI interviews of Vice President Dick Cheney.

They also include notes about the 2003 State of the Union address, during which President Bush made the case for invading Iraq in part by saying Saddam Hussein was pursuing uranium ore to make a nuclear weapon. That information turned out to be wrong.

Waxman rejected Mukasey's suggestion that Cheney's FBI interview on the CIA leak should be protected by the privilege claim — and therefore not turned over to the panel.

"We'll act in the reasonable and appropriate period of time," Waxman, D-Calif., said. But he made clear that he thinks Mukasey has earned a contempt citation and that he'd schedule a vote on the matter soon.

"This unfounded assertion of executive privilege does not protect a principle; it protects a person," Waxman said. "If the vice president did nothing wrong, what is there to hide?"

The assertion of the privilege is not about hiding anything but rather protecting the separation of powers as well as the integrity of future Justice Department investigations of the White House, Mukasey wrote to Bush in a letter dated Tuesday. Several of the subpoenaed reports, he wrote, summarize conversations between Bush and advisers — are direct presidential communications protected by the privilege.

"I am greatly concerned about the chilling effect that compliance with the committee's subpoena would have on future White House deliberations and White House cooperation with future Justice Department investigations," Mukasey wrote to Bush. "I believe it is legally permissible for you to assert executive privilege with respect to the subpoenaed documents, and I respectfully request that you do so."

White House spokesman Tony Fratto said Bush invoked the privilege on Tuesday.

Waxman said he would wait to hold a vote on Mukasey's contempt citation until all members of the panel had a chance to read up on the matter.

The Bush administration had plenty of warning. Waxman warned last week that he would cite Mukasey with contempt unless the attorney general complied with the subpoena. The House Judiciary Committee also has subpoenaed some of the same documents from Mukasey, as well as information on the leak from other current and former administration officials.

Congressional Democrats want to shed light on the precise roles, if any, that Bush, Cheney and their aides may have played in the leak.

State Department official Richard Armitage first revealed Plame's identity as a CIA operative to columnist Robert Novak, who used former presidential counselor Karl Rove as a confirming source for a 2003 article. Around that time Plame's husband, former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, was criticizing Bush's march to war in Iraq.

Cheney's then-chief of staff, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, also was involved in the leak and was convicted of perjury, obstruction and lying to the FBI. Last July, Bush commuted Libby's 2 1/2-year sentence, sparing him from serving any prison time.

Libby told the FBI in 2003 that it was possible that Cheney ordered him to reveal Plame's identity to reporters.

___

Associated Press writer Lara Jakes Jordan contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080716/ap_on_go_pr_wh/cia_leak

After IndyMac's failure, which bank could be next?

As banks prepare to reveal quarterly results, investors wonder which could be next to fail

NEW YORK (Associated Press) - The bank executives who promised months ago that the worst of the financial crisis had passed are looking less and less credible to investors. And that could pose a problem as the industry releases what are expected to be dismal second-quarter earnings over the next few weeks.

Certainly, not all banks are going the way of IndyMac Corp., which was seized by the government on Friday. In fact, analysts expect several banks to come out on top as the industry consolidates in the coming years.

But for now, investors aren't taking any chances. After IndyMac was seized _ the seventh bank to fail since the credit crisis began last summer, and the second-largest bank to fail in the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.'s 75-year history _ stocks in nearly all the nation's banks were clobbered Monday as the market bet that there will be more failures.

Stocks that were hit the hardest Monday included First Horizon National Corp., which operates in the Southern United States; Zions Bancorp, located in Utah and Idaho; and Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest savings and loan. Stocks of bigger banks such as Wachovia Corp., Citigroup Inc., Bank of America Corp., and Wells Fargo & Co., also tumbled.

It's going to take more than a few hopeful corporate outlooks and capital raising plans this earnings season for investors and consumers to feel at ease again. No matter how much cash a bank has on hand, if enough customers are worried about their deposits and withdraw them, that bank will be in trouble, said Adam Schneider, a principal with Deloitte Consulting LLP.

"The noise becomes the story after a while," Schneider said. "Any institution can be hurt by a run on the bank."

A virtual run by investors who had bought securities through Bear Stearns Cos. led to its demise in March, when the flailing investment bank was bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

By examining banks' ratios of defaulting loans to total outstanding loans and to reserves and stock _ two measures of a bank's health _ only a handful of companies appear to be in jeopardy, according to bank analyst Richard Bove of Ladenburg Thalmann. These small banks include Downey Financial Corp., Corus Bankshares Inc., Doral Financial Corp., BFC Financial Corp., BankUnited Financial Corp. and FirstFed Financial Corp.

However, bank runs are unpredictable. To be sure, IndyMac did hold an extremely high number of defaulting loans compared to its total loans and reserves _ but the Southern California lender was not on the FDIC's list of 90 banks that could be in danger of failing.

This is why even those banks that have worked to raise extra cash are still losing investors.

Responding to its plunging stock price, National City said Monday it "is experiencing no unusual depositor or creditor activity," and that it had more than $12 billion in extra short-term liquidity at the close of the business day Friday. National City is expected to report a second-quarter loss on July 24.

And Washington Mutual tried to reassure investors Monday by saying it has enough cash available to survive tough conditions.

But home values are still falling, giving the market little reason to believe in a rebound anytime soon.

"It is a bit premature to suggest that this is the bottom," said Aite Group LLC bank analyst Eva Weber. "We'll need to keep a close eye on what the housing market continues to do."

The situation could be worse, according to Deloitte's Schneider. "We're not seeing massive runs on the bank on a Depression-era scale." And the ones that have occurred are "pretty orderly failures."

Also, big-name banks that have been losing money for nearly a year now _ like Citigroup Inc. _ have not yet seen depositers bail.

Citigroup, the nation's largest bank by assets, is expected on Friday to post a second-quarter loss, which would be its third-straight quarterly shortfall. The other four big U.S. banks are also expected to report worse results than last year and issue grim outlooks. Wachovia Corp. already announced it will post a loss for the second quarter, and analysts predict JPMorgan Chase & Co., Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo will report profit declines.

Washington Mutual is expected to report a second-quarter loss next week. Lehman Brothers analyst Bruce Harting predicted Monday the thrift will take a $4 billion loss provision, and that its loan losses will eventually amount to $26 billion.

For consumers, the worry is that they'll have an even more difficult time finding loans at affordable rates. When a bank says it is tightening lending standards and shedding assets, it means it's issuing fewer loans and charging higher rates _ particularly for mortgages and home-equity loans.

"They can expect a harder and longer search, and they can expect that rates will vary from institution to institution," Schneider said, noting that banks are targeting customers with better credit histories and more stable jobs and incomes.

The FDIC estimated it will take $4 billion to $8 billion to cover IndyMac's deposits, likely lowering its reserve ratio to a level that would require it to reassess the rates it charges banks.

When it comes to the day-to-day business of operating checking and savings accounts, not very much is changing for the consumer. But IndyMac's failure serves as a stark reminder to not deposit more than $100,000 in an account at a single institution _ the FDIC generally only guarantees up to $100,000 of your money if your bank goes under, or $250,000 for some retirement accounts. Beyond that amount, the government decides whether to pay back the customer on a case-by-case basis. Top of page

P.S. Thanks for the heads up, MMM.

Prevention of Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Act of the U.S. Congress.



July 10, 2008

During the month of December 2007 I received a number of emails raising the alarm that a new law was in the works in the U.S. Congress that would end free speech and that would allow the government to arrest and incarcerate any individual who speaks out against the Bush Administration, the war in Iraq, the Department of Homeland Security or any government agency.

When I read the two almost identical versions of the law itself, one in the House and one in the Senate, I noticed that the proposed law was actually about establishing a commission to study the problem of domestic radicalization and make recommendations to the government. This is quite different from a law that criminalizes certain thought or speech activities. It is important to understand that legislation to study and make recommendations about radicalization is not the same as a law that criminalizes specific acts involving speech, protest, and other previously constitutional activities. The circulating emails, in my view, overstated the case for the loss of free speech at least at this time.

But when emails are sent around claiming certain things, it is important to check them out. Keep the Faith Ministry is committed to reliable and accurate information as it relates to prophecy. Free speech is one of those areas we are watching closely. Having said that, it is important that we understand that the constitutional protection of free speech IS being threatened. This new commission may well make recommendations to Congress and the President, whoever that may be, that will justify laws that will radicalize the government’s assault on free speech and the result may involve the very concerns that the circulating emails expressed.

Freedom of speech is a vital defensive shield that protects religious liberty. When free speech is removed or diminished, there is little protection for religious freedom because religious freedom is dependent on the integrity of free speech. For a copy of the bill, you may go to the web and do a Google search in the library of Congress for bill number 1955 and 1959.

Freedom of religion depends on the freedom to develop ones’ own system of belief however repugnant that may be to others. This commission, should the bill be passed and signed into law, will be mandated to get into the murky waters of thought patterns and may well make recommendations that will lead to the criminalization of certain thoughts or ideas.

Though the current bill does not criminalize those who speak out against the government, it’s work, conclusions and recommendations could lead to those things, and the prevention of religious freedom of those that proclaim the biblical principles of Revelation concerning the mark of the beast, the beast itself and antichrist among other things.

Already the Catholic Church has claimed that criticism of the pope is a form of terrorism, particularly if it is done in front of an excitable crowd, such as at a rock concert or perhaps in an environment of fear based on widespread natural disasters, global terrorist activity or nuclear threats, etc.

We need to watch carefully and pray that God will protect His people, and give them wisdom and strength to speak wisely under the Holy Spirit’s guidance. That is the safest way to negotiate a crisis situation.

Source: http://www.ktfministry.org/news/281/prevention-of-violent-radicalization-and-homegrown-terrorism-act-of-the-us-congress

Note: Highlights and Bolds added for emphasis. Blogman.

Moses Receives The Ten Commandments




Exodus 32

1And when the people saw that Moses delayed to come down out of the mount, the people gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him, Up, make us gods, which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

2And Aaron said unto them, Break off the golden earrings, which are in the ears of your wives, of your sons, and of your daughters, and bring them unto me.

3And all the people brake off the golden earrings which were in their ears, and brought them unto Aaron.

4And he received them at their hand, and fashioned it with a graving tool, after he had made it a molten calf: and they said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

5And when Aaron saw it, he built an altar before it; and Aaron made proclamation, and said, To morrow is a feast to the LORD.

6And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

7And the LORD said unto Moses, Go, get thee down; for thy people, which thou broughtest out of the land of Egypt, have corrupted themselves:

8They have turned aside quickly out of the way which I commanded them: they have made them a molten calf, and have worshipped it, and have sacrificed thereunto, and said, These be thy gods, O Israel, which have brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.

9And the LORD said unto Moses, I have seen this people, and, behold, it is a stiffnecked people:

10Now therefore let me alone, that my wrath may wax hot against them, and that I may consume them: and I will make of thee a great nation.

11And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power, and with a mighty hand?

12Wherefore should the Egyptians speak, and say, For mischief did he bring them out, to slay them in the mountains, and to consume them from the face of the earth? Turn from thy fierce wrath, and repent of this evil against thy people.

13Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swarest by thine own self, and saidst unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven, and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed, and they shall inherit it for ever.

14And the LORD repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people.

15And Moses turned, and went down from the mount, and the two tables of the testimony were in his hand: the tables were written on both their sides; on the one side and on the other were they written.

16And the tables were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God, graven upon the tables.

17And when Joshua heard the noise of the people as they shouted, he said unto Moses, There is a noise of war in the camp.

18And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear.

19And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount.

20And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

21And Moses said unto Aaron, What did this people unto thee, that thou hast brought so great a sin upon them?

22And Aaron said, Let not the anger of my lord wax hot: thou knowest the people, that they are set on mischief.

23For they said unto me, Make us gods, which shall go before us: for as for this Moses, the man that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become of him.

24And I said unto them, Whosoever hath any gold, let them break it off. So they gave it me: then I cast it into the fire, and there came out this calf.

25And when Moses saw that the people were naked; (for Aaron had made them naked unto their shame among their enemies:)

26Then Moses stood in the gate of the camp, and said, Who is on the LORD's side? let him come unto me. And all the sons of Levi gathered themselves together unto him.

27And he said unto them, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Put every man his sword by his side, and go in and out from gate to gate throughout the camp, and slay every man his brother, and every man his companion, and every man his neighbour.

28And the children of Levi did according to the word of Moses: and there fell of the people that day about three thousand men.

29For Moses had said, Consecrate yourselves today to the LORD, even every man upon his son, and upon his brother; that he may bestow upon you a blessing this day.

30And it came to pass on the morrow, that Moses said unto the people, Ye have sinned a great sin: and now I will go up unto the LORD; peradventure I shall make an atonement for your sin.

31And Moses returned unto the LORD, and said, Oh, this people have sinned a great sin, and have made them gods of gold.

32Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

33And the LORD said unto Moses, Whosoever hath sinned against me, him will I blot out of my book.

34Therefore now go, lead the people unto the place of which I have spoken unto thee: behold, mine Angel shall go before thee: nevertheless in the day when I visit I will visit their sin upon them.

35And the LORD plagued the people, because they made the calf, which Aaron made.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

10 Reasons Why Obama is Bound To Lose

New Yorker cartoon depicting Mr Obama as a Muslim and his wife as a terrorist



  1. The guys driving the 'mud covered' 4 wheel drive "F" series Trucks;
  2. The guys with the red bandandas on their heads riding the Harley Davidson Motorcycles;
  3. The Guys wearing the "Mullets";
  4. The Blue-Collar fans of Jeff Foxwothy;
  5. Or Larry The Cable Guy;
  6. The rebel, flying the Confederate Flag in his front yard;
  7. The guy with the "west coast choppers" t-shirt;
  8. The bald headed teenager with the "born to raise hell", tatoo;
  9. The fellow chewing 'Skoal';
  10. The guys dressed in camouflage from head to toe.

These are the reasons why he won't win!

From the New Jersey state line to Key west Florida; From the Pocono's to Seattle; From Philly to San Diego;

These fellows run the show. Like the Chevy Slogan: They're the heartbeat of America.

These 10 reasons why Obama "CAN'T" win, are because the 'good old boys' named above "ain't going for it".

So, either Obama is an extremely intelligent man; Or he's an extremely stupid man; Either way he loses.

Arsenio.

P.S. New Yorker Magazine is number 11!

"You'll be the victim of the biggest digging expedition in modern history; Secure your dirty laundry."

U.S. Army Contract for “Internet Awareness Services”



July 10th, 2008

Via: Federal Business Opportunities:

STATEMENT OF WORK

The contractor shall conduct internet awareness services in support of the Governments activities to include Indications and Warning, Force Protection, and situational awareness.

The purpose of the services will be to identify and assess stated and implied threat, antipathy, unrest, and other contextual data relating to selected internet domains. The contractor will prioritize foreign language domains that relate to specific areas of concern.

The contractor will analyze various web pages, chat rooms, blogs and other internet domains to aggregate and assess data of interest to the Government. It will also identify new internet domains that directly relate to the Governments specific local requirements.

The contractor will include a principle cyber investigator, a locally specialized threat analyst, a foreign speaking analyst with cyber investigative skills, and a constant watch team. It will organize additional native language translations at the direction of the Governments designated Contracting Officers Representative (COR), following mutual agreement.

The deliverable product will consist of a written report, delivered weekly to the COR. The report will contain raw data and supporting analysis to add value to raw materials. The contractors sources will be captioned under alias to preserve access, but upon request, the contractor will consider releasing specific URLs on an as needed basis based on the Governments request, if explicit threat materials or imminent threat to personnel or facilities are discovered.

The contractor shall immediately contact via telephone and/or email the designated COR upon receipt of any and all stated or implied threats that contain timing and/or targeting information relating to personnel, facilities or activities, and to specifically designated areas of concern.

As part of this alerting, if the contractor identifies a stated or implied threat that contains timing, targeting or both, it will deliver the raw URL and any supporting URLs relating to the threat materials. It will also make an investigator available within 8 hours of request for analytic discussions regarding the threat.

If the Government receives a deliverable report and believe the materials contain threat information, the COR may make a request for the URL release 24 hours a day to the contractor. The contractor will consider the ad hoc request for URL and respond within 12 hours. On cases where someone other than the COR makes a request, the contractor will notify the COR and will inform him or her of its decision.

Source: http://cryptogon.com/?p=2883

Power brokers due at Bohemian Grove

Annual encampment to start Friday, sans protests

Published: Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 3:16 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, July 10, 2008 at 5:21 p.m.
KENT PORTER / Press Democrat file
The last mass protest against the gathering of political and business power brokers at Bohemian Grove happened in 2006.

Legions of summer camp-goers spreading out around Sonoma County will be joined this weekend by some of the nation’s most powerful campers as the annual two-week encampment at the Bohemian Grove opens Friday night.

The super-secret Bohemian Club and its guests meet each summer in the 2,700-acre Monte Rio grove for what they say is fellowship and good-natured high-jinx — a break from the grueling grind of leadership.

But critics, who until recent years mounted protests outside its gates, say the gatherings serve as strategy sessions for a New World Order operating outside democratic institutions.

While the grove’s motto — “Weaving Spiders Come Not Here” — specifically targets arachnids, the club excludes all but the nation’s most powerful and well-connected individuals, according to critics.

Founded in 1872 by five San Francisco men seeking to connect “gentlemen” with art, literature, music and drama, the all-male club is said to have included a variety of political, financial, military and industrial leaders.

Among them: Presidents Ronald Reagan, Richard M. Nixon and both Bushes; former cabinet members Colin Powell, George Schultz and Henry Kissinger; and industrialists Stephen David Bechtel, Leonard Firestone and David Rockefeller.

The clandestine nature of the summer retreat promotes broad speculation and endless theorizing about what goes on there.

Most critics raise the specter of national policy with global implications coming from behind the gates of an exclusive, closed-door gathering of largely conservative, wealthy white men.

This year’s encampment begins Friday night and runs through July 27. The traditional Cremation of Care ritual, in which a human effigy representing “dull care” is burned beneath a massive form said to represent the club’s owl mascot, will be Saturday night.

Traffic already had picked up at the Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport on Thursday, though just how much was uncertain, said Glenn Barrett, general manager of KaiserAir Santa Rosa Jet Center, one of two such agencies at the airport.

Thursdays are typically busy, especially in the summer, but with about 45 arrivals scheduled or completed by mid-day, the volume of incoming flights was above normal, which ranges anywhere from 10 to 40 aircraft, Barrett said.

Barrett, who is new at the company, which provides a range of concierge services, said, “My understanding is that basically these three weeks are pretty much the busiest three weeks of the year generally speaking.”



Source:
http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080710/NEWS/283060042/1033&title=Elite_meet_at_Boho_Grove

FARC'S 'Human Rights' Friends

THE AMERICAS
By MARY ANASTASIA O'GRADY



FARC's 'Human Rights' Friends
July 7, 2008; Page A11

As we learn more about the Colombian military's daring hostage rescue last week, one detail stands out: In tricking FARC rebels into putting the hostages aboard a helicopter, undercover special forces simply told the comandantes that the aircraft was being loaned to them by a fictitious nongovernmental organization sympathetic to their cause called the International Humanitarian Mission.

It may have taken years for army intelligence to infiltrate the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, and it may have been tough to convincingly impersonate rebels. But what seems to have been a walk in the park was getting the FARC to believe that an NGO was providing resources to help it in the dirty work of ferrying captives to a new location.


The Colombian military tricked the FARC into releasing their most valuable hostages. Mary Anastasia O'Grady, who writes the "Americas" column, talks with Kelsey Hubbard about how the once-powerful guerrilla group was duped. (July 7)

I am reminded of President Álvaro Uribe's 2003 statement that some "human rights" organizations in his country were fronts for terrorists. Connecticut Sen. Christopher Dodd got his back up over Mr. Uribe's statement, and piously lectured the Colombian president about "the importance of democratic values."

But as the helicopter story suggests, Mr. Uribe seems to have been right. How else to explain the fact that the FARC swallowed the line without batting an eye?

This warrants attention because it adds to the already robust evidence that left-wing NGOs and other so-called human rights defenders, including Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and Colombian Sen. Piedad Cordoba, are nothing more than propagandists for terrorists.

When passions over kidnap victim Ingrid Betancourt and the other hostages were running high, these actors pressed Mr. Uribe to grant FARC demands. Now it is clear that the pressure was geared more toward strengthening the rebels' hand than freeing the captives.

Left-wing NGOs have made undermining the Colombian government's credibility a priority for many years. A 2003 internal report from the U.S. Embassy in Bogotá titled "A Closer Look at Human Rights Statistics" confirmed as much. It found that NGO analyses – for example by the Jesuit-founded Center for Popular Research and Education known as Cinep – of the human-rights environment contained a heavy bias against the government while granting a wide berth to guerrillas.

[FARC's 'Human Rights' Friends]
AP
Colombian President Álvaro Uribe and ex-hostage Ingrid Betancourt.

Since the late 1990s, the NGO practice of dragging the military into court on allegations of human rights violations has destroyed the careers of some of the country's finest officers, even though most of these men were found innocent after years of proceedings. "Judicial warfare" turned out to be especially effective because under legislation pushed by Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, "credible" charges against officers put at risk U.S. military aid unless the accused was removed. The NGOs knew that they only had to point fingers to get rid of an effective leader and demoralize the ranks. Given this history, it's not surprising that the FARC thought a helicopter from an NGO was perfectly natural.

As to Mr. Chávez, documents captured during a Colombian raid of a guerrilla camp in Ecuador show that, in his role as "mediator" in hostage negotiations since last year, he was advising the rebels as to how to best use their hostages as leverage to advance their revolution.

Last fall, Mr. Chávez and the FARC hatched an audacious plan whereby the Venezuelan would take "proof of life" of Ms. Betancourt to French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris, where the plight of Ms. Betancourt was a cause célèbre. The rebels wrote that Mr. Chávez was sure French pressure for negotiations would cause President Bush to "order Uribe to allow the meeting" between Mr. Chávez and the rebels on Colombian soil, something Mr. Uribe had refused to do. The rebels reported that Mr. Chávez was "super-motivated," because he viewed the rendezvous as a public-relations coup that would give him and the FARC "continental and world renown."

That plan flopped, but Mr. Chavez had other cards up his sleeve. One involved Ms. Cordoba, who is currently under investigation by the Colombian attorney general for ties to the FARC. She figures prominently in the captured rebel documents, and is notoriously close to Mr. Chávez.

She met at the Venezuelan presidential palace with FARC leaders last fall. From that meeting the rebels reported that "Piedad says that Chávez has Uribe going crazy. He doesn't know what to do. That Nancy Pelosi helps and is ready to help in the swap [hostages in exchange for captured guerrillas]. That she has designated [U.S. Congressman Jim] McGovern for this."

If the speaker of the House was working with Ms. Cordoba in this scheme, her judgment was more than a little misguided. The rebels write that on a trip to Argentina Ms. Cordoba told them, "It doesn't matter to me the proposal that Sarkozy has made to free Ingrid. Above all, do not liberate Ingrid." In short, why give up such a useful pawn?

Write to O'Grady@wsj.com

Source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121538827377131117.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Contemporary Service Draws Thousands

The Sins of Babylon



The Sins of Babylon (excerpt)

I saw that since the second angel proclaimed the fall of the churches, they have been growing more and more corrupt. They bear the name of being Christ's followers; yet it is impossible to distinguish them from the world. Ministers take their texts from the Word of God, but preach smooth things. To this the natural heart feels no objection. It is only the spirit and power of the truth and the salvation of Christ that are hateful to the carnal heart. There is nothing in the popular ministry that stirs the wrath of Satan, makes the sinner tremble, or applies to the heart and conscience the fearful realities of a judgment soon to come. Wicked men are generally pleased with a form of piety without true godliness, and they will aid and support such a religion. {EW 273.1}

Said the angel, "Nothing less than the whole armor of righteousness can enable man to overcome the powers of darkness and retain the victory over them. Satan has taken full possession of the churches as a body.


274
The sayings and doings of men are dwelt upon instead of the plain, cutting truths of the Word of God. The spirit and friendship of the world are at enmity with God. When the truth in its simplicity and strength, as it is in Jesus, is brought to bear against the spirit of the world, it at once awakens the spirit of persecution. Very many who profess to be Christians have not known God. The natural heart has not been changed, and the carnal mind remains at enmity with God. They are Satan's faithful servants, notwithstanding they have assumed another name." {EW 273.2}

I saw that since Jesus left the holy place of the heavenly sanctuary and entered within the second veil, the churches have been filling up with every unclean and hateful bird. I saw great iniquity and vileness in the churches; yet their members profess to be Christians. Their profession, their prayers, and their exhortations are an abomination in the sight of God. Said the angel, "God will not smell in their assemblies. Selfishness, fraud, and deceit are practiced by them without the reprovings of conscience. And over all these evil traits they throw the cloak of religion." I was shown the pride of the nominal churches. God is not in their thoughts; their carnal minds dwell upon themselves; they decorate their poor mortal bodies, and then look upon themselves with satisfaction and pleasure. Jesus and the angels look upon them in anger. Said the angel, "Their sins and pride have reached unto heaven. Their portion is prepared. Justice and judgment have slumbered long, but will soon awake. Vengeance is Mine, I will repay, saith the Lord." The fearful threatenings of the third angel are to be realized, and all the wicked are to drink of the wrath of God. An innumerable host of evil angels are spreading over the whole land and crowding the churches. These agents of Satan look upon the religious bodies
275
with exultation, for the cloak of religion covers the greatest crime and iniquity.
{EW 274.1}

Early Writings, E. G. White, pp.273-275.

Source: http://egwdatabase.whiteestate.org/nxt/gateway.dll?f=templates$fn=default.htm$vid=default

P.S. The following stament in the article was highlighted and boldened for emphasis:

Satan has taken full possession of the churches as a body.

Monday, July 14, 2008

Life-Changing Christian Centers*

Mount Dora Seventh-day Adventist Church

Welcome to Life Changing Christian Centers !!! We have moved!!! Our NEW address is. Click www.lifechangingcc.com now!!!

LCCC WORSHIP

18440 US Highway 441
Mount Dora, FL 32757

Phone: 352-383-4100

Saturday Services


In His Presence
8:00am


Classes and Small Group Meetings
9:30am


LCCC Worship Service
11:00am


Mount Dora Campus
Campus Pastor:

A cutting-edge atmosphere with uplifting music, live band and praise singers. Live speakers offer dynamic teachings complete with scriptural references. Powerful prayer warriors are always available for special prayer. There's even a hot coffee and bagel bar to tempt the palate.

A full range of children's programming is offered on Saturday mornings.

Source: http://www.lifechangingcc.com/lccc_worship

<<<<<____^^^^____>>>>>

Note: This is the website for a number of churches;

Of which (previously known as) *Mount Dora Seventh Day Adventist Church, of Mt. Dora, Florida, U.S.A., is one of them.

If your're looking for a swinging time, and to groove to the 'cool vibes', while you enjoy your cup of Joe; This is the venue for you! If instead you seek a place where holy reverence is observed, a solemn place to worship the the God of Law and Order, this is not for you!

For a shock, listen to track on this website: Christian Music???

Many SDA's are ignorant (oblivious) to the fact that many SDA churches have changed their worship service into contemporary Rock and Roll--Juke Joint environment, "Celebration" type carnaval. They have lowered the standards to attract "The Un-Churched"; Has Evangelism now became a Limbo Dance in which you can raise or lower the bar so people can squat accross it?

What you can see here is a drastic falling away from what has so long been considered a Sabbath School and Worship service.

  • Cutting-edge? What, should we now follow the latest trend?
  • Live Band? Is this what is needed for the presence of a Holy God to dwell amongst his people? What God is being summoned with this Shindig? Is this Hootenanny, what you call the moving of the Holy Spirit?
  • Coffee and Bagels? Is this a Church Sabbath service, or is this a delicatessen at Times Sqare? Is this the Hard Rock Cafe on 57th Street? Is this a Seventh Day Adventist Church on a Sabbath Morning? Or is this Wolfie's (Restaurant) on Collins Avenue in Miami Beach, any Saturday Night? Coffee, what about Temperance? Coffee and Cutting Edge, I get it, now!

Is this the type of Church that Kurt Cobain, Jim Morrison, and Jimi Hendrix would "feel" good in?

Highlights and bolds used in above article to emphasize the drastic change from SDA worship tradition.

Arsenio.

California fires worst in history




California fires worst in history

Published: Monday, July 14, 2008 at 12:40 p.m.
Last Modified: Monday, July 14, 2008 at 12:54 p.m.


NASA

Clouds were banked against the California coastline and skies were filled with smoke on Sunday, when NASA’s Terra satellite captured this image of the state.



SAN JOSE — California has surpassed the most acreage ever burned in recorded state history.


More than 1,700 wildfires have scorched the state this season, burning a total of 829,000 acres, or nearly 1,300 square miles, as of Monday morning.


Never before has fire consumed so much acreage in the state, said Henry Renteria, director of the Governor’s Office of Emergency Services.


Meanwhile, a massive wildfire in the Los Padres National Forest continued spreading north and east Monday, relieving the danger to the storied coastal town of Big Sur but forcing residents of another community to stay away from their homes for a third day.


Mandatory and voluntary evacuation orders, first issued Saturday morning, remained in place for more than 200 homes in the rural Cachagua community near the northern boundary of the forest. The blaze, which already has charred 187 square miles and destroyed 27 homes, was about 1 1/2 miles from the residential area, according to the U.S. Forest Service.


Firefighters had a strong fire line there that they expected to hold, keeping the flames from reaching the more populated Carmel Valley, said Tacy Skinner, a Forest Service spokeswoman.


On the southwest border of the blaze, which was 61 percent contained, firefighters were in cleanup mode Monday. The Pacific Coast Highway fully reopened ahead of schedule a day earlier, and residents and business owners were settling back in after three weeks of evacuations.


Also Monday, a large cleanup effort was under way in the eastern Sierra Nevada town of Independence, where a weekend mudslide on fire-scarred land forced residents to evacuate their homes.


The mudslide, in an area that was devastated by wildfires last year, damaged about 50 homes and caused the temporary closure of California Highway 395, about 90 miles east of Fresno.


Severe thunderstorms Saturday set off the slide 300 yards wide and up to three feet deep, said Carma Roper, spokeswoman for the Inyo County Sheriff’s Department. The mud oozed across Highway 395, prompting a detour, and some mud came within a half mile of the Los Angeles Aqueduct, which supplies much of Los Angeles’ water.


On Monday morning, the California Highway Patrol had reopened one lane, escorting vehicles through the affected mile-and-a-half stretch of highway.


The rain also caused some problems for the area around the Piute Fire, which has charred the Sequoia National Forest for the past three weeks. The moisture helped calm the flames, but contributed to flooding in Lake Isabella, located in a canyon in the southern Sierra Nevada.


While officials planned to lift the last of the fire evacuations related to that blaze, evacuation orders remained for 75 Lake Isabella homes threatened by flooding.


The Piute fire was 68 percent contained after burning 57 square miles.


Cooler weather around the state also allowed officials to lift evacuation orders in the fire-ravaged Butte County towns of Paradise and Concow.


The fires there, which burned 83 square miles and destroyed 50 homes in the area, weren’t threatening any homes Monday morning, but firefighters were watching for flare-ups as hotter weather was expected to return in the afternoon. The blaze was about 70 percent contained, officials said.


“There’s still fire activity and there’s still firefighters doing a lot of work, but the winds have not picked up. The last few days have been very very good for firefighters, they’ve been able to get a handle on the fire because of that,” said John Welsh, a spokesman for the state fire department in Butte County.


At least one person was found dead after the blaze swept through Concow. Officials have not released the person’s identity, and the cause of death had not been determined.


In the southern extension of the Los Padres forest near Santa Barbara, another wildfire there also benefited from more favorable weather. Fire crews had contained 90 percent of the fire and expect to complete the containment lines on Wednesday, U.S. Forest Service spokesman David Daniels said.


Fifty-five homes remained under evacuation warning. “We’re starting to get close,” Daniels said.


A pair of blazes burning in the foothills west of Lake Tahoe were sending plumes of smoke toward the alpine resort area. The soot was sporadic, but air quality was so bad it prompted the cancellation of the annual Donner Lake Triathlon.


The California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection said 288 blazes were still burning around the state, most of them in the mountains ringing the northern edge of the Central Valley.


So far this fire season, flames have blackened nearly 1,300 square miles and destroy about 100 homes across California. Most of the blazes were sparked by a June 21 lightning storm across the northern part of the state.


Source: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/article/20080714/NEWS/190771028/1349&title=California_fires_worst_in_history

Sunday, July 13, 2008

Scientist to Congress: U.S. risks 'catastrophe' in nuke EMP attack

Expert says growing threat posed by Russia, China, North Korea, Iran, terrorists


Posted: July 10, 2008
6:22 pm Eastern

© 2008 WorldNetDaily


WASHINGTON – A top scientist today warned the House Armed Services Committee America remains vulnerable to a "catastrophe" from a nuclear electromagnetic pulse attack that could be launched with plausible deniability by hostile rogue nations or terrorists.

William R. Graham, chairman of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack and the former national science adviser to President Reagan, testified before the committee while presenting a sobering new report on "one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences."

It is the first report from the commission since 2004 and identifies vulnerabilities in the nation's critical infrastructures, "which are essential to both our civilian and military capabilities."

Not taking the steps necessary to reduce the threat in the next three to five years "can both invite and reward attack," Graham told the committee.

The scariest and most threatening kind of EMP attack is initiated by the detonation of a nuclear weapon at high altitude in the range of 25 to 250 miles above the Earth's surface. The immediate effects of EMP are disruption of, and damage to, electronic systems and electrical infrastructure. Such a detonation over the middle of the continental U.S. "has the capability to produce significant damage to critical infrastructures that support the fabric of U.S. society and the ability of the United States and Western nations to project influence and military power," said Graham.

"Several potential adversaries have the capability to attack the United States with a high-altitude nuclear weapon-generated electromagnetic pulse, and others appear to be pursuing efforts to obtain that capability," said Graham. "A determined adversary can achieve an EMP attack capability without having a high level of sophistication. For example, an adversary would not have to have long-range ballistic missiles to conduct an EMP attack against the United States. Such an attack could be launched from a freighter off the U.S. coast using a short- or medium-range missile to loft a nuclear warhead to high altitude. Terrorists sponsored by a rogue state could attempt to execute such an attack without revealing the identity of the perpetrators. Iran, the world's leading sponsor of international terrorism, has practiced launching a mobile ballistic missile from a vessel in the Caspian Sea. Iran has also tested high-altitude explosions of the Shahab-III, a test mode consistent with EMP attack, and described the tests as successful. Iranian military writings explicitly discuss a nuclear EMP attack that would gravely harm the United States. While the commission does not know the intention of Iran in conducting these activities, we are disturbed by the capability that emerges when we connect the dots."

William R. Graham
William R. Graham

Graham reminded the committee even smaller nuclear weapons can create massive EMP effects over wide geographic areas. He also pointed out that United Nations investigators recently found that "the design for an advanced nuclear weapon, miniaturized to fit on ballistic missiles currently in the inventory of Iran, North Korea and other potentially hostile states, was in the possession of Swiss criminals affiliated with the A.Q. Khan nuclear smuggling network."

Theoretically, an EMP attack is devastating because of the unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures that could result. Because of America's heavy reliance on electricity and electronics, the impact would be far worse than on a country less advanced technologically. Graham and the commission see the potential for failure in the financial system, the system of distribution for food and water, medical care and trade and production.

"The recovery of any one of the key national infrastructures is dependent upon the recovery of others," he said. "The longer the outage, the more problematic and uncertain the recovery will be. It is possible for the functional outages to become mutually reinforcing until at some point the degradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country's ability to support its population."

Graham took the EMP debate out of the realm of science fiction by reminding the committee that as recently as May 1999, during the NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, Russian leaders threatened a U.S. congressional delegation with the specter of such an attack that would paralyze the U.S.

He also quoted James J. Shinn, assistant secretary of defense for Asian and Pacific Security, who two weeks ago told the same House committee that China's arms buildup includes exotic experiments with electromagnetic weapons that can devastate electronics with bursts of energy similar to those produced by a nuclear blast.

"The consequence of EMP is that you destroy the communications network," Shinn said. "And we are, as you know, and as the Chinese know, heavily dependent on sophisticated communications, satellite communications, in the conduct of our forces. And so, whether it's from an EMP or it's some kind of a coordinated [anti-satellite] effort, we could be in a very bad place if the Chinese enhanced their capability in this area."

Graham says terrorists who get their hands on one or a few unsophisticated nuclear weapons might well calculate they could get the most bang for their buck from attempting an EMP attack.

Recovery from a widespread EMP attack could take months or years, Graham warned. The fact that key components of the U.S. electrical grid are not even manufactured in America and must be ordered a year in advance from foreign suppliers suggests just how complicated and time-consuming recovery might be. The high state of automation within America's utilities further complicates recovery. There just might not be sufficient trained manpower available to get the job done in a timely way.

"The commission's view is that the federal government does not today have sufficient human and physical assets for reliably assessing and managing EMP threats," said Graham. "The commission reviewed current national capabilities to understand and to manage the effects of EMP and concluded that the U.S. is rapidly losing the technical competence and facilities that it needs in the government, the national laboratories and the industrial community."

Graham said it's not too late for Congress to take the bull by the horns and take the steps necessary to prepare for the threat – and thereby reduce it.

"A serious national commitment to address the threat of an EMP attack can lead to a national posture that would significantly reduce the payoff for such an attack and allow the United States to recover from EMP, and from other threats, man-made and natural, to the critical infrastructures," said Graham.

Graham's predecessor as chairman of the commission had equally tough words on the impact of the EMP threat.

"Their effects on systems and infrastructures dependent on electricity and electronics could be sufficiently ruinous as to qualify as catastrophic to the nation," Lowell Wood, acting chairman of the commission, told members of Congress in 2005.

The commission's previous report went so far as to suggest, in its opening sentence, that an EMP attack "might result in the defeat of our military forces."

Source: http://www.worldnetdaily.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=69280

P.S. I've heard that longtime Congressman Roscoe Bartlett of Mary-Land, is a scientist besides being a politician, and one of his areas of expertise is EMP.

Why hasn't Congressman Bartlett (a professed SDA), previously also publicly sounded this alarm? What good does his other profession serve him, if he doesn't warn those in danger?

Arsenio.