The Philadelphia office of the FBI once again nabbed the terrorist before the act could be committed. I’m not sure whether Philadelphia has crowds of terrorists or the local FBI office has some especially sharp people. I suspect that sharp people is the answer.

They caught a group of terrorists planning to attack Ft. Dix in a JIhad designed to kill service personnel and obtain martyrdom.
They broke up terrorist planning in a Philadelphia Mosque and now have succeeded in interrupting plans for an assassination plot in Sweden which involved a Philadelphia area Islamic terrorist(suspect?)

As a Philadelphia native with expatriate status in the Rocky Mountains I check the news on line each morning and look first at the DATELINE of the articles to find Philadelphia as the location. That is the news that I read first.

It seems that the FBI in Philly is often able to catch terrorists just before they commit their terror. Of course the agents involved are never named which is completely understandable. The US Attorney for Eastern Pennsylvania( Michael Levy) is the public face on these terrorist arrests and investigations. Mr. Levy is the soul of judicial correctness and is mum on details.

The suspect Coleen LaRose was arrested in October in a Philadelphia suburb and with information obtained during her questioning, seven individuals in Ireland were arrested as participants in the assassination plans being plotted.

I remember an announcement some months ago that we were not in a war on terrorism. Attorney General Eric Holder evidently did not copy the Philadelphia FBI office on that memo.

I thank those defenders of our freedom in Philadelphia and the other FBI offices across the nation who work without public accolades for their diligence in protecting America.

I am amazed and mystified how they catch these people. They must really be as good as the TV shows depict them!

The bill was a put together in a dim witted fashion that produced the predicted elimination of a significant source of income for thousands of Colorado residents. The legislature decided to obtain revenue by taxing the retail sales generated on the internet by Colorado advertisers. These advertisers are typically home based businesses that use various on line strategies to attract attention to products sold by Amazon and other Internet retailers.

The home based business’s, called Amazon Associates, are paid a small commission by the retailer for sales generated by their advertising efforts. The income is generally a small income supplement but some Associates have generated enough traffic and notice to make enough money to have this as their primary source of income.

Amazon and other retailers have made it clear that they are not against paying a tax on products sold in Colorado or other states. The point that Amazon has made is that the bill is not structured in a manner consistent with the Constitution. They further have clearly indicated that the bill requires activities by Amazon that will make their program unable to operate profitably in Colorado. They followed up on their warning that they would eliminate The Amazon Associates program in Colorado if the bill was passed.

Testimony by Internet marketing experts clearly warned the legislature and Governor Ritter what would happen if they passed this bill. The warnings were ignored and Ritter once again earned his reputation of never seeing a tax possibility that he wouldn’t embrace. He and his party have steadfastly pursued increases in taxes where ever an opportunity presents itself. This is a case where Amazon, the major on-line retailer in America has decided not to do any Associate business with Colorado residents. Colorado residents can still go on line and buy Amazon products. Amazon Associates in other states will advertise the products on line and derive the commissions. Colorado will derive no tax benefits from Amazon on these sales.

The bill will not gain significant taxes and has put thousand of Colorado residents out of doing on-line business. Dim witted might not be strong enough as a description of the Colorado legislative activity on this matter.

The Denver Post might be shouting huzzahs over this bill but they can save their breath.
Advertisers are not going to replace Amazon and the Internet with a return to advertising in the newspaper. The Internet has a reach that the Colorado Legislature , the governor and newspapers do not understand. With HB 10-1193 the legislature and the governor have shot themselves in the foot again. Unfortunately they also have wounded the thousands of Amazon Associates in Colorado by putting them out of business which happened when Bill Ritter signed this bill

The administration got a week off from my critiques since getting to my office could only be accomplished by litter or gurney. I was able to watch TV and review the Presidents clarion call to have an up or down vote on his health bill.

Watching his performance gave me a brain cramp that rivaled the back pain I was suffering. With the passing of a few more days the back pain will be controlled. If the President gets his bill passed we will all have financial cramps into the distant future. The arrogance and ideological strategy of this administration should now be apparent to any thoughtful observer.

Obama and his so called Progressive supporters are determined to reshape America into a society dominated by government control of all important aspects of life. The obvious opposition that is rising among Americans to the direction we are being led by Obama has no effect on his actions. He is forging ahead with a grim countenance determined to get control of the Health Issues with his vision overriding any objections of the population. He has taken control of the American auto industry, banks and the financial sector. Health Care, representing 1/6 of the nations economy, is the next sector he and his Progressive cohorts are determined to take over as a government owned activity.

The very heart of America framed by our founders, has been the opportunity for individual success and the constitutional protections for individuals from an oppressive government. The Constitution is the contract between individuals and the Federal Government under which liberty and prosperity has flourished. The idea that the Constitution is a living-evolving document is false premise. It is not only false it is an idea being promoted by those who want to break the contract and revise the Founders work to meet their own ideological goals.

The Constitution has as a part of it’s contractual agreement a provision for amendments. Changes can be made under these provisions for amendment, not by Progressive court revisions and interpretations.

I have operated under contractual agreements in my business life more times than I can recount. I have never thought of those contracts as living documents subject to revision by any participant simply because they wanted to fulfill the terms of the agreement in a manner that seemed to be a better way to do the deal.

This is exactly what the Obamanistas seek to do one step at a time. They and their Progressive antecedents are determined to disassemble the founding principals of our nation to meet their vision of how life should be lived by Americans, with their government directing our actions. That is not the picture I envision for my future.

America is beginning to realize the fraud that is the Change as promised by Obama.
The people are starting to say: Obama is not the deal we were looking for…. Bigger government is not going to be part of the future envisioned by a the rapidly growing opposition to Obama’s enormous deficits and legislative direction.

Ronald Reagan once said: “’The most terrifying words in the English language are: I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’

The graphic depiction came from the Soadahead site Worth checking!
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After this brief experience I can understand why someone with kids would want to throw the TV out of a window that was high enough to ensure serious and permanent damage. I have read reports of the adverse effects of TV on kids written by all kinds of child psychology experts. I have generally given it a ho-hum and moved on to the sports page.

Three hours of watching kids TV has explained a lot of things to me about our problems as a nation. It does not require advanced degrees in childhood studies to write a report. Those hours of watching the popular teen and younger age directed shows gave me enough credits to write the thesis

Nick at Night has one show after another with early teens as stars who show not one scintilla of sensible thought. I remember that as an early teen I was not yet structured into a particularly sensible thought mode nor were all of my friends. However the Nick at Night teens would likely have been sent by my generation of parents to Valley Forge Military Academy with a fervent prayer by those parents that some help could be found there. On Nick the parents are simply a more sizable version of the kids but a little dumber.

The cartoons were for the most part populated by violence, and extremely poor behavior that would be unacceptable in any civilized society. Sponge Bob Square Pants is popular for obvious reasons. Thoughtful behavior and friendship appears from time to time between a talking sponge and a squid like creature.

My several hour experience has by no means given me the total picture of kids TV but it sure explains a lot. I saw no hero that my g’kids could seek to emulate. A Frank Merriwell character didn’t appear anywhere I watched. Thinking about the main characters of my teens on the radio and on early television I am sure that they affected to some degree my thoughts on behavior and how to handle challenges. Frank Merriwell created by Gilbert Patton held my attention with the adventures that he and his brother encountered regularly. Frank as a freshman at Yale didn’t drink,smoke and was a good student. This was a clear picture woven into the story. The stories we listened to or read always had a hero who attacked the problem faced with a thoughtful, brave, approach. Maybe our lack of true public heroes these days is because the kids do not have such models to emulate.

The life examples that the kids witness these days comes from Tiger Woods, Barry Bonds, Michael Vick and for comic relief, Sponge Bob Square Pants with Nick at Night. Social networks are there to fill in computer time. I’ve looked at Twitter and even have an account. What thoughtful tale can be told in 140 characters? Maybe –“The house burned down” or some such note if you have a laptop after the house burned down with your PC in it.

I need to guard against becoming a total curmudgeon when describing current society and the things currently important to kids, but it is hard.

It does help in my understanding why Obama is our President. He was vigorously supported by a generation with Scooby Doo and a talking Sponge as heroes

When watching the Winter Olympic games, it seems that it is a Colorado gathering with all of the Colorado connections on the USA Team

The list of team members is extensive and Gold Silver and Bronze is showing up around the necks of many of those Colorado athletes , Jeremy Abbott, Gretchen Bleiler, Racheal Flatt, Todd Lodwick, Michelle Roark, Sarah Schleper, Paul Stastny, Katie Uhlaender, Chris Klug, Lanny Barnes, Chris Drury, Taylor Fletcher, Simi Hamilton, Matt Ladley, Alice McKennis, Casey Puckett, Justin Reiter, Johnny Spillane, Ryan St. Onge, Jake Zamansky and Lindsey Vonn all have Colorado connections..

In addition to this talented group there is even more to the Colorado story. Shawn White’s sponsor, Red Bull, built a secret half pipe in the Colorado wilderness so that he could work on his snowboard routine, privately. Shawn honed his already extraordinary skills to prepare for his Gold winning performance last week training in the Colorado snow near Silverton.

Colorado is large in size but small in population. It seems that everyone is a neighbor or almost a neighbor. There are so many people pursuing excellence in various outdoor activities that it is sure to rub off at some level if you live in the Colorado Mountains.

The Winter Games Olympians are a special breed with a DNA structure alien to most people. These athletes seem able to put fear into a compartment that is not part of the normal human structure. Discipline, training and absolute determination to be the best, is part of the make up of each of these folks.

We all can’t be downhill racers but we can learn from them. How we spend our lives needs to have fear of failure buried in our own special compartment. Pick a hero in your own field of endeavor and check out his or her secrets. I’ll bet that bravery is part of the make up that sets apart that hero’s life. We all can’t be a Lindsey Vonn hurtling towards the finish line at 80 miles per hour. We can however fulfill responsibility with preparation, discipline and determination to succeed, whatever our goal.

Bravery can be found in intellectual pursuits, moral stances and voicing a well thought out opinion that is contrary to a popular direction.

It is great to live in a state where heroes gather and are part of everyday life, not just showing up every 4 years.

This morning was no different. The grand announcement this morning was his proposal to form a commission to figure out how to reduce the giant deficits he is creating with the record spending of his administration. This commission is required to respond with recommendations by December 1st. In the description by the White House of Obama’s new commission they said he is not taking anything off the table for consideration including tax increases. The presidents previous pledge not to raise taxes on the middle class is no longer in effect.

After reading this I needed to grab full control of emotions to keep from banging my head against the wall. This is simply the next step in the brainless actions of the administration designed to dupe the American public into thinking that they are concerned about the deficits they are creating.

This commission is unnecessary. Any of the families among the 7 million jobless Americans know what needs to be done to reduce these deficits. Stop spending as much money. Cut expenditures immediately. Every American with reduced income knows that reducing the expansion rate of expenditures is not an answer. The daily rate of spending must immediately start to be reduced.. It must start now, not 10 months from now.

The design of the commission is bogus and a totally political structure to help keep the President’s party in control of Congress. The Obama pledge not to raise middle income taxes will be over ridden by the commission’s recommendation. The commission will determine that part of Obama’s deficits must be reduced by an increase in income tax. Obama will then reluctantly agree to additional taxes because he has pledged to take the commissions work seriously. The December 1st reporting requirement will help keep Harry and Nancy to remain in control of Congress. The bad news of the Obama tax raises will not come till after the mid term elections.

This does not require a study of Nostradamus to predict what Obama is trying to do.
A brief study of the early work of Barackobamus will tell anyone what is planned here.

Thinking about Barack, Harry , Nancy, Rahm and their cohorts, I still have an urge to bang my head against the wall, but after writing this I don’t think I will need to bang it quite as hard.

The graphic characterization/depiction of the President is from a web site that has done some work on the promises of this administration.

I have spent today reading every report and listening to every interview I can find. My conclusion is that this is one of the biggest attempts by a governing administration to completely distort truth and fact since Stalin and his successors practiced what we then called The Big Lie.

The leaders of the Soviet Union would cover their failures by massive campaigns describing successes that didn’t exist. That crops were bigger and food was more plentiful was the Big Lie told over and over while many were standing in line for hours waiting for a meager rationing of food. Good times were proclaimed that did not exist and posters, statues and parades were used to celebrate successes that hadn’t happened.

The proclamation of the success of Obama’s Stimulus package is a modern version of the Soviet spin put on every failure. This administration is proclaiming that the growth of unemployment to 10% is a success because without the Stimulus there would have been a depression.

A bogus claim of Obama success is being proclaimed much as the Soviet Union proclaimed a bigger harvest while people were starving. Obama supposedly has saved us while more than 7,000,000 people are unemployed and about the same number are underemployed. This tactic is so similar to the Soviet Union propaganda tactics that I wonder if I am the only one that remembers those days.

Like the 30’s this administration is creating enormous debt and slowing down any activity that would lead to rapid recovery. The old adage that if you don’t know history you a doomed to repeat it is currently being proven while we watch, by Obama and his administration.

Somebody said to me that they were not sure what witless meant. The first meaning in Webster’s needs to be changed to: The Obama Administration.

Analyze their actions and you will see witless in action

Sometimes it takes America a while to get our act together but when we do, watch out. The anger about the actions of Barack, Harry and Nancy is spreading like wildfire throughout almost all segments of the population. Obama with an arrogance for which he has little basis continues to act like the anointed ONE.

I have recently altered my thoughts a bit about Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Their mindless leadership of Congress is heading down the path of defeat for their party. I look forward each day for another dim witted move by this pair that will help my wish for 2010 to come true. That wish is of course that the angry electorate will send them into retirement as leaders in Congress.

The congressional replacements need to be carefully vetted before we make another mistake like we have done in recent elections. America needs to “open the hood” on each potential replacement candidate to see if they have, at least, an occasional useful thought.

We have a major task facing us later this year. I am sick of politico speak. I am looking for straight talk with honesty as a base for proposed solutions by candidates. Waffling on immigration issues and control of the borders cannot be vaguely addressed. Fiscal responsibility must be an understood skill in a candidate’s war chest. The Constitutional limitations on the role of the Federal Government, needs more understanding than that provided by a 3 credit government course in college. However it would be useful if more of our politicians had at least taken that undergraduate course on the Constitution and the relationship between the States and the Federal Government.

We got our Change last year with Obama and the Change must have put transmission fluid in the crank case because things aren’t running very well. The Senate is changing 10 months before the election as Democratic Senators take early retirement. There are a few smart Senators who see the handwriting on the wall. When a ship is sinking everyone in the lifeboats need to row hard “away” to avoid being sucked under when the vessel heads for the bottom. I think this might be a tactic causing the surprising resignations we are seeing among Democrats.

It will be interesting to watch how the Obama crowd will handle the public anger. About 75% of the Stimulus money has not been spent. Do not be surprised when you see that money flooding into key states and congressional districts before the election.

I never had any doubt as to what that Stimulus money was all about and where it would be used. I am convinced that Chicago Gang around Obama still figures that well placed money would fix all problems. Lets give them a real surprise in November by showing them the exit doors from office with replacements that are determined to restore “a government of the people, by the people and for the people .” *