[some strong language]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uk-T46soz8]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-epeXDBLXsA]
Now we’re living in an age today in this post-9/11 atmosphere where our civil liberties are being undermined constantly, all in the name of safety and security, we’re supposed to give up our rights for our privacy? We’re allowed now to accept the idea of secret prisons and secret renditions, and the loss of habeas corpus.
World Affairs Brief, January 4, 2008. Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World.
Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief <http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com>
MY ANALYSIS OF THE IOWA CAUCUS RACE
For the Democrats, Obama came in first with 39%, Edwards second with 30% and Clinton third with 29%–a major embarrassment. For the Republicans, Gov. Huckabee received 34%, and Gov. Romney was second with 25%. Thompson and McCain were in a tie for distant third at 13% and Ron Paul finally burst out of the single digits with 10% –not what his ardent supporters hoped for but certainly a respectable showing considering the media blackout against him and his anti-establishment cause. The big losers were Hillary Clinton and Rudolph Giuliani. Although both were promoted all year long by the mainstream press as front runners, they were clearly not popular in Iowa. It was also clear that the Des Moines Register, which tried to sway the race in favor of McCain and Clinton, is out of touch with it’s own constituency.
As I have pointed out in recent briefs, we are front and center watching a major case of media manipulation. Huckabee’s strong showing in Iowa was almost solely due to his ministerial attractiveness to rural Christian conservatives in Iowa, and even that would not have gained any notice without a major media campaign to promote him out of nowhere, as they made a major issue out of Romney’s Mormon faith–which predictable galvanized some evangelical Christians against Romney and for Huckabee.
However, Huckabee’s God and Big Government campaign has little pull in other larger states where the number of secular voters is much stronger than in Iowa. He will get a boost in New Hampshire from the media label as a “winner,” but it is doubtful he will break the 20% support level. Before Iowa, he was at 10%. It is interesting to note the grouping of Iowa counties that voted for Romney were concentrated around the cities where he visited personally –indicating that he was successful in converting a majority in urban areas which had a chance to meet him. Huckabee’s support was almost exclusively found in the small rural counties which rely on the news media and what fellow church-goers are saying to form political opinions. That will not translate to a winning percentage in other states with larger urban populations.
McCain wouldn’t even be in this race if it were not for the massive media support he receive just recently –with six major newspapers endorsing him in an attempt to boost him over Romney (when it became apparent that Giuliani might not be able to sustain his front-runner status). This strategy of boosting McCain to cut off Romney is probably not going to work either. McCain’s poor showing in Iowa, despite the Register’s endorsement, does not bode well. If McCain doesn’t beat Romney in New Hampshire (currently in a dead heat), the Powers That Be will be looking for another strategy. They’ve still got spoiler Michael Bloomberg in the wings. Using a major liberal newspaper in NH to editorialize against Romney (“Anyone but Romney” without endorsing anyone else) suspiciously smacks of media manipulation on a grand scale. But New Hampshire voters can be pretty independent when they want, so the results next week should be interesting.
Ron Paul continues to build support in the “Live or Die Free” state, so it will be interesting to see how much higher than his current 7% polling numbers he is able to reach. I fear that the false media coverage promoting Huckabee as an anti-establishment conservative (which is false) may keep last minute voters from switching to Paul. It won’t help that the Fox media moguls are intent upon keeping Ron Paul out of the New Hampshire Republican debates–even though Paul polls higher in NH than Fred Thompson, who is invited. ABC News is hinting that they may use the same double digit national polling criteria in their debate selection process as well. So, it is important that Ron Paul breach the 10% mark in New Hampshire. The establishment really doesn’t want the electorate to have an anti-interventionist, anti-big government, anti-globalist choice in this election.
Because many Americans still don’t know who Ron Paul is, supporters launched the Ron Paul blimp in December. But the blimp is limited by weather and its slow airspeed, so supporters have come up with a new idea to raise the banner of freedom: The Ron Paul Air Corps!
The gigantic Ron Paul Air Corps Banner flies high over Cedar Rapids, Iowa this afternoon after the launch of the first flight of a planned 50 due to take to the skies over dozens of major American cities this month.
You can sponsor flying time by donating online at http://www.ronpaulaircorps.com.
Here the “LOVE” in the “REVOLUTION” is backlit by the sun:
A grocery store customer in Indianapolis is being credited with halting an armed robbery by pulling his own weapon and pointing it at the assailant until police arrived.
According to a report in the Indianapolis Star, Charlie Merrell, 51, was in a checkout line at a grocery store called Bucks IGA on the city’s south side when a “masked man jumped a nearby counter and held a gun on a store employee.”
As little as 10 minutes on a cell phone can trigger changes in brain cells linked to cell division and cancer, suggests a new study conducted by researchers from the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel and published in the Biochemical Journal.
Previously, advocates of cell-phone safety have maintained that the phones cannot cause brain damage because the microwave radiation that they emit is at a level too low to heat the body’s cells. But in the new study, changes in biological processes began at an energy level even lower than that used by a typical phone, even without heating occurring.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qi_XBgzHxQs]
…President Bush signed the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007 last month. Buried in the 822 pages of the bill, among numerous new energy regulations on everything from automobiles to televisions, was a plan to ban the light bulb. Yes, the light bulb. …
When the founding fathers came together in 1787 at Independence Hall to write the U.S. Constitution, they created a government with limited powers, concerned chiefly with protecting the individual rights of American citizens….
Switching from incandescent bulbs to CFL bulbs is not like switching air fresheners. CFL bulbs take longer to warm up, the coloration is different and they contain toxic amounts of mercury. Broken CFL bulbs carry the risk of mercury poisoning for those who come in contact with them, and proper disposal methods need to be followed to prevent environmental pollution. To get the full life out of your CFL bulb (as opposed to an incandescent bulb whose purchase price is much lower), the government advises consumers to keep it turned on for at least 15 minutes.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qVmVJJaLkM]
From Media Matter for America
On the January 3 edition of Fox News Live, host Shepard Smith aired two reports as part of his “Before They Were Candidates” series: one on former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC) and one on former Gov. Mike Huckabee (R-AR). Smith — who narrated both reports — began the Edwards piece by saying “John Edwards took a lot of heat for his $400 haircut” and airing a brief clip from a YouTube video showing Edwards adjusting his hair while the song “I Feel Pretty” from the musical West Side Story played. Later in the piece, Smith said that “[c]ritics have called him an ambulance chaser.” By contrast, the Huckabee piece included no mention of any criticism directed at him.
[youtube=http://youtube.com/watch?v=s08RJ2_o_MM]
This is sad. Do any other candidates give interviews that then don’t get aired? It’s not surprising why many Americans still don’t know who Ron Paul is.
This interview is currently posted on the Larry King Live’s home page with this heading:
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Ron Paul Interview!
At least Paul gets an exclamation point.
It’s more important for America to hear Suze Orman “for the hour.”
LARRY KING, HOST: Tonight, will 2008 bring bigger and better numbers for your bottom line or are hard times on the horizon?
Personal finance guru Suze Orman says you’re wise if you’re worried. She’s here and she’s ready to help you save yourself and protect your economic future.
And, on the eve of the Iowa caucuses, she’ll tell us if presidential politics will have any real impact on our pocketbooks.
Who does she like?
Suze Orman for the hour, taking your calls and e-mail questions, next on LARRY KING LIVE.
Ron Paul on ‘Larry King’ Tonight! [corrected]
ABC Bans from TV the 20/20 Ron Paul Interview–Put On Net Only
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fk7ZrfjjHeI]
USA TODAY
Natara Garavoy, another psychologist here, says there can be added stress for those who are the only woman in a unit. “They don’t want to stand out,” she says, adding that some try to appear unattractive to ward off male soldiers who might not see another American woman for months.
Whatever their trauma, military women often hesitate to report problems. That’s partly because of the military’s ingrained emphasis on unit cohesion and the unspoken taboo against telling on a fellow soldier. It also stems from the fear of reinforcing stereotypes that theirs is the weaker sex.
“Women do have to prove themselves more,” says VA spokeswoman Kerri Childress, a Vietnam-era Navy veteran. “They have to work really, really hard to look tough.”
All that pressure must go somewhere, Resick says. Men with PTSD often are angry and act out aggressively. Women often turn inward and become depressed, she says. Both men and women “try not to deal with it” and often take years to seek counseling, Resick says.
PLAISTOW, N.H. — Ron Paul said the decision to exclude him from a debate on Fox News Sunday the weekend before the New Hampshire Primary is proof that the network “is scared” of him.
“They are scared of me and don’t want my message to get out, but it will,” Paul said in an interview at a diner here. “They are propagandists for this war and I challenge them on the notion that they are conservative.”
Blacks in America have long been victims of the state and its allies. From slavery to the war on drugs, laws which prevent a person using his own body and property as he sees fit, have had terrible effects on generations of black folk. Initially, the oppression of blacks was widespread and decentralized. This required a different set of strategies from the widespread, centralized oppression of today. Many blacks are concerned when the matter of rolling back the federal government is broached. It is undeniably true that the various state governments of the past supported terrible atrocities against black people. At such a time, political strategies had to be developed to deal with the most pressing threat. As the political winds have changed, so too must the strategies change, even for those who believe in the legitimacy of government.
The war on drugs is the most pressing legal issue facing black people. Racial profiling, raids on homes which result in death and oppression, such as the cases of Kathryn Johnston and Corey Maye, are directly attributable to the war on drugs. States and localities have been moving in the direction of decriminalization for marijuana for decades. The federal government has been opposing such measures for the entire time. A Presidential candidate’s position on the war on drugs is the first legitimate political litmus test I have seen within my lifetime. The issue is serious, affecting the lives of millions. It is something which calls into question the most fundamental of all human rights: the right to treat your own body as you see fit. Of all the major Presidential candidates, one, and one alone has called for an end to this scourge to the black community: Ron Paul. The other candidates are unconcerned, in favor of the drug war, or too cowardly to speak. Ron Paul has shown the courage of his convictions through his unabashed opposition to the drug war.
11:08AM Pacific Time…..I just talked to Michael at HQ and it is true. They are updating the RonPaul2008 website right now! He will be on tonight. He said it all happened so fast, that they were all caught by surprise.Cansomebody please post this at RonPaulForums.com They are all wondering too!!Larry King Live, CNN, tonight. Check local listings for times. WOOOOHOOOOO!!!!
Update:
Ron Paul NOT on Larry King tonight, apparently
Not sure what happened here, but apparently the Ron Paul campaign was mistaken in saying that Ron Paul would be on Larry King tonight.
Sorry. This is bizarre. I was just watching the live feed of the group of vets in Iowa that Ron then spoke to. And even there, they were saying that they were waiting for Ron to be finished with his Larry King interview.
Strange.
jeff
Starting at 6 pm (Central), watch here
As we get deeper into the campaign, I do not have a problem with excluding candidates who are not generating any substantial public support. Gravel, I think, was an example of that in the Democratic debates. But I think the Paulbots have a pretty good case for outrage with Ron Paul’s exclusion from the upcoming Republican debate in New Hampshire.Paul’s supporters lay most of their claim to a place in the debate on his mammoth fundraising numbers. To me, the bigger issue is that Paul is consistently outpolling Fred Thompson, who is being allowed into the debate.
Related:
Ron Paul will be excluded from an upcoming forum of Republican candidates to be broadcast by Fox News on January 6, 2008. Please check here for actions to take to remedy this situation. It is now paramount that we organize a solution to show Fox the meaning of “blowback” for their apparent tampering of the election process.
… My great fear is their [Pakistanis’] anger towards Musharraf’s military regime will be targetted towards his enablers – the United States.
This is the problem with our government involvement in the internal affairs of other nations. Our friend one day is our enemy the next. And all our friends’ enemies become our enemies. How many times have we armed BOTH sides of a conflict because of this? There is little for us to gain from this policy, and simultaneously a lot of trouble we get ourselves into. It is not a rational or intelligent way to interact with the world.
The latest video of the assassination, from another angle, provides evidence that Benazir Bhutto was killed by an assassin’s bullet.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vq-DwHXx4oI]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWes9BP5va8]
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58f6hqEBCKg]
Huckabee has Used ‘Razor Blades’ Line Before
Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee said his joke suggesting his opponents consider slitting their wrists because their support doesn’t match their fundraising wasn’t an attempt to make light of suicide, though he did not apologize for the remark.
Former four-term Congressman Ron Paul describes the American power structure. As a member of the House Banking and Currency Committee, Paul was in a unique position to see the inner workings of economic power and control of the country, and how this power translates into political power. Paul describes how, through the control of the Federal Reserve and the banking system, the American power elite is basically out of reach of the democratic system. Concurrently, by using such organizations as the Trilateral Commission and the Council on Foreign Relations, control over the political process is maintained, resulting in what is in reality a in the U.S.
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0I2fRcFPzu4]Ron Paul talks about American power structure, FED, Trilateral Commission and CFR (August 1988) – YouTube
Published on Jul 19, 2011
Congressman Ron Paul (at the time for this interview, August 1988, former four-term congressman) describes the American power structure.
As a member of the House Banking and Currency Committee, Ron Paul was in a unique position to see the inner workings of economic power and control of the country, and how this power translates into political power.
Related:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=753I6Xy1hl8]Ron Paul Then And Now….Same
ScaningTheWaves | September 12, 2007
Old and Recent Clips Of Ron
Hey, he dont flip flop
Related:
[1988] Feisty Ron Paul Castigated for Opposing CIA Drug Running, Shouting for State’s Rights!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MpTNdcM_e0]
The elitist Rockefeller sons would sometimes “joke” about which parts of the world they would each control according to biographer Peter Collier, carving the world up into different thiefdoms. Collier’s admission that there was “something really behind the joke” is an understatement considering the revelations of the late Aaron Russo about what Nicholas Rockefeller told him.
The admission is taken from a segment of a History Channel documentary about the Rockefeller family which hit You Tube today.
“China will be the world’s next great nation,” declared investment and commodities guru Jim Rogers….” Rogers went on:
Here’s how important I think China will be: My daughter, who was born in 2003, is learning Chinese. Her Chinese nanny speaks only Mandarin to her, and I suspect that she might learn Chinese before she learns English. In her lifetime, Chinese will be the most important language in the world, next to English. If you are young and ambitious, learn Chinese. If you have ambitions for your children, persuade them to learn Chinese.
… Its impressive advances notwithstanding, the People’s Republic of China remains an inefficient, oppressive, one-party communist state that could not have achieved its recent phenomenal development, except for the suicidal policies of the U.S. government (along with other non-communist governments) that transferred enormous capital, technology, and know-how to the Beijing regime, in violation of all economic and moral principles. And, in spite of its enormous gains and momentum, Communist China would quickly atrophy and crumble if the American people forced our politicians to end the destructive trade, spending, regulatory, and monetary policies that are destroying our middle class and transferring our manufacturing and technology base to China.