The Final Six Months of This Year Begins

   July, 2012. This month’s financial headlines, from the start of the month to the end, include: "Factory Slump Reaches U.S.; Weak Labor Report Fans Fears; Dow Skid Reaches Fourth Day; U.S.-China Trade Gap Grows; Weak Economy Heads Lower." (As reported in the WSJ.)  Yes, there are still "mechanical adjustments" now and again and sometimes small recoveries are seen, but the serious skittishness of the markets are still with us.

What are the statistics showing us this month? Obama told us (7/25/12) that "We tried our plan — and it worked."  The official figures tell a different story. The statistics: 41 straight months of unemployment over 8%, 25 million unemployed, a debt of over $15 trillion, and 45 million Americans on food stamps. The statistics are also showing us, as reported by the news wire services, that for the very first time, the average net worth of Canadians is now higher than for Americans.

The majority of the outlay is in special benefits and what is called "entitlements."  And the debt projection is for an increase of at least 187% by 2035 (Congressional Budget Office figures.)

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You might ask what our government is doing about all of this, right?  We see that the GSA continues it’s massive "parties" (at taxpayer’s expense), with no end in sight.  We see that massive farm payments from our government continue, often for growing nothing.  We see that the Obama stimulus program has resulted in many jobs going overseas.  We see that illegal aliens get on board with the government food stamp program in record numbers.  We see General Electric (who’s CEO is a close Obama supporter) cleaning up with Obama stimulus money to the tune of over $3 billion, so far.

We see our enormously inept Social Security agency still paying out over a million dollars and more to dead people.  We see the IRS is reported paying out over 4.2 billion in tax refunds to illegal aliens in America.  We see about 5 million workers added to the disability rolls since Obama took office. And now Obama is calling for $12.7 trillion in new welfare spending. (Most of these news bits are from The Washington Times.)

It would most certainly seem to be a case of the parasites devouring the host.  It’s unbelievable, isn’t it?

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And what might you think would be the results of what is happening?  Among so many, this writer watched Obama on the TV screen while he promised us all that he would cut the deficit in half in his first 4 years.  It is something he has said many times in the past.  Now we find he has actually created the largest deficit in the history of our nation.  Even Russia’s Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has chimed in saying that, "Obama is either an idiot or he’s purposely trying to destroy the American economy." Let’s face it, America has hit Barack bottom.

And we read, in The Wall Street Journal that, "Two years after Washington ‘reformed’ Wall street [with that Dodd-Frank bill], the economy stinks and ‘too big to fail’ is enshrined into law."  And economists tell us that the tax increase that Obama wants on the more wealthy would just be enough to run the government for about 8 1/2 days.  It is also a fact of record that the United States has the highest corporate tax rate in the world, already — even without further Obama tax increases.  He evidently feels he can fool most of his idiot supporters into believing that is somehow important, and that it will somehow manage to really help the real problem of the deficit, without having to seriously reduce government spending.  Let’s face it, that dog don’t hunt.

Obama and his minions are also trying to convince us that we should be far more outraged over whatever Mitt Romney may do with his own money and not really pay any attention to what Obama does with our money.  Let’s hope there aren’t many who will buy into that nonsense either.

The president also doesn’t want us to notice that he is not inclined to meet with or, in any fashion, council with his own Jobs Council.  He prefers to treat them as outsiders, very much as he does with most of his own Cabinet members.  Yes, this is what is really happening.  Or, maybe I should say this is what isn’t happening.

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So now that we’ve got you in a great mood, let’s look at our taxes.  As Amy Payne reports in Joe Miller’s Restoring Liberty, "...the Senate narrowly voted (51-48) to raise taxes on 1.2 million small businesses, which will likely kill more than 700,000 jobs at a time when nearly 13 million Americans are out of work." Consider that to be just the beginning. Some of the ObamaCare taxes coming your way (as reported by Human Events), there’s the "Individual Mandate ... Employer Mandate ... Investment Income Surtax ... Limit raising on Medical Tax Deductions ... Tax to be added on Charitable Hospitals ... a new Medical Device Tax ... a Medicare Payroll Tax Increase," and on and on it goes.

But of course while all of that is going on we discover (from the Government Accounting Office) that over $1 billion went to tax cheats in the form of tax credits. Now isn’t that nice?

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Maybe we’re doing better on the energy front this month? Don’t count on it. As revealed in that great docu-drama, "2016: Obama’s America," there are such uncomfortable facts about Obama as: "He blocks oil drilling in America, but gives billions in taxpayer money to Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico to drill." (Having trouble finding a listing of that film at any local theater? Gee, I wonder why.)

It is also generally unknown that Obama’s EPA "...is rigidly enforcing a $6.8 million penalty on oil refiners for not blending non-existent cellulosic ethanol into gasoline and jet fuel." (Human Events) We also find that the ethanol mandate, as related to corn, has possibly pushed up the price on that commodity further than as caused by the drought. You’ll notice that the next time you go to the market. Corn is not only eaten by us, it is also fed to livestock.

But at least we are going to be moving forward with the "fracking" process, right? Well, not if Obama’s environmental pressure group has it’s way. Just about everything that might get our economy moving forward again must be stopped dead in its’ tracks.

Meanwhile, since Obama and his people have shut down the Canadian pipeline deal, Canada is moving forward with a massive energy deal with Communist China. (You might remember we had warned you about this happening if Obama shut down the pipeline. Well, there you are.)

And what are all of these terrible things doing to American business? And is our government helping American business to survive the ordeal? Well, let’s see. To begin with, our government has, for all intents and purposes, shut down almost all of our coal production in America. The latest fatality, Patriot Coal has just filed for bankruptcy, as so many others have and more are expected to.

And then we have numerous little tragic scenarios happening all over the nation, such as reported by Mercola.com: "An Illinois beekeeper whose bee hives were stolen and allegedly destroyed by the Illinois Department of Agriculture has stirred up a hornet’s nest with his questions on why the state did this, and most importantly, what they did with his bees.

That’s the price of doing business in what has been widely described as the most corrupt state in America.

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The endless government attacks against American business have had an echoing, negative effect on many areas. We find more tax liens triggering additional foreclosures. And we even see those beautiful, new skyscrapers being finished near Ground Zero (in New York) with dismally low occupancy contracts. And we see more cities declaring bankruptcy — San Bernardino (in the sad state of California) being the latest. And it might be added, it’s not at all surprising. It’s not only not surprising that this city joins the fiscally undone municipalities, they are also facing a serious crime probe as well.

This writer lived in that town for a while, in his earlier years. This writer remembers the corruption that we couldn’t get anybody to do anything about, even back then. We also told the city council that putting in that forced urban renewal mall adjacent to the downtown district would kill the downtown area. They did and it did. Sometimes people just don’t seem to have any notable intelligence at all, do they?

And now some cities, like San Bernardino, are even considering using that same eminent domain, this time to seize mortgages of homes that face foreclosure. After all, that worked so well for them before, didn’t it? They just never learn, do they?

Of course we can always count on the government, on one level or another, to step up and solve these problems, right? Wrong! Gov. Brown, known un-affectionately as "Governor Moodbeam," has gone forward with his multi-billion dollar high-speed train to nowhere, while he also touts his new additional tax plan for an also almost bankrupt state with a legislature that can hardly find a doorknob to get out of a room.

A final observation, if I may. The state of confusion (otherwise known as the state of California) is in a mindless kind of chaos that would be almost laughable if it wasn’t so tragic. You have San Francisco where so many of its population seems diagonally parked in a parallel universe, and Los Angeles where it is suggested the largest voter-block is illegal aliens and a governor who just wants to play with his little train set — all of this while everything around them comes crashing down.

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A closer look at Obama, his associates and his political tactics give us a better understanding as to why all these irresponsible things are going on. The list, courtesy of Human Events, notes the many wild charges, the direct lies, blaming everyone and everything else for what he did and didn’t do and for the results as well, establishing an end-game of class warfare, endlessly denying everything, pandering extensively to politically advantageous special interests, going after any opposition or anyone or any media element that dares to be fully truthful, playing the race card at every opportunity, still trying to run against George W. Bush, and the creation of phoney issues at every opportunity. You’ve seen what’s been coming down. You know what we mean.

One of Barack’s ads "...goes after Mitt Romney for not releasing more tax returns than he already has. The ad, titled ‘Mitt Romney’s Tax Returns: When Will He Come Clean?,’ at one point flashes two words on-screen: ‘felons’ and ‘tax records.’ The words, ‘felons’ and ‘tax records,’ are displayed on-screen for at least six seconds, as the Obama campaign wants to make sure its viewers see the words." (As reported to us by The Patriot Update.)

What this writer wonders is why are the liberal/left so concerned about any and all of Mitt Romney’s records but not at all concerned about all the missing and restricted records concerning Obama? It’s like Obama saying, let’s not look backwards and dwell on my past. Instead, let’s look backwards and dwell on Romney’s past. And of course if you don’t find anything very consequential, then just invent something.

And there was also a strong attack from the Obama administration, calling Mitt Romney a liar. They said he lied about what Obama had said about ‘someone else built that.’ But that’s exactly what Obama said. This writer watched the video of the event, several times. There is no mistaking it — none whatsoever. So, who’s the actual liar? Guess who.

And we are all familiar with that despicable ad from the left that has a man claiming that because he was let go from a steel company that the Bain company was trying to salvage, his wife died of cancer and somehow Romney shared the blame for this.

Never mind that his wife’s job gave her the health coverage that she needed. Never mind that it was a few years after she was no longer working that she contracted the fatal cancer. Never mind that when he was let go from the steel company, Romney had not been working with Bain for several years. Never mind the truth. It is important to suggest that Romney is somehow complicit in the woman’s death. That’s the way they do business.

And we also have other examples of their ruthfulness. As reported by WND, "Jane Pitt, mother of actor Brad Pitt, has been scared into silence by the hate-filled, vulgar and even violent reaction to her public assertion about Barack Obama..." that is critical of the president. We understand she has even been subjected to death threats.

Well at least Jon Voight, the father of Brad Pitt’s wife was willing to come to the distraught mother’s defense. Jon was more than willing to step in where Brad, the wimp, feared to tread.

Meanwhile, Obama has turned to a quasi-amnesty plan to try and buy more Latino votes this fall. Of course he will already get the illegal alien vote (if Holder has his way) but he wants more.

And let us not forget that while Obama whines over any of Romney’s own money that might be overseas, Obama is not at all shy about having fund-raising events and similar efforts in Switzerland, Sweden, France and even in China. As exampled by ConservativeByte.com, "The [Obama] campaign held a fundraiser for American expatriates in Shanghai, raking in large sums from those benefitting from the sort of personal and professional investment overseas that President Barack Obama has cast as unpatriotic in a recent attack ad against Romney."

Obama is also continuing to reach out to his many Muslim friends. As reported by Michael Childs in a Patriot Action Alert, "The Bureau of Indigenous Muslim Affairs, a non-profit that handles Islamic affairs, is planning ‘Jumah at the DNC,’ which is several events to happen at the Democratic National Convention this September." And while we’re at it, perhaps we should also note that Iran’s Ahmadinejad has joined Putin of Russia, Castro of Cuba and the American Communist Party in indorsing Obama for president. Just thought you’d like to know.

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Something else that we have just discovered. As reported on the ABC website, "Jonathan Lavine is a long-time Bain Capital Executive and co-owner of the Boston Celtics. He is also one of President Obama’s most prolific fundraisers."

As further noted, "Lavine’s placement on the board of Ampad suggests he had a more direct role than Romney in the series of events surrounding the layoffs, labor disputes and eventual bankruptrcy of the Marion, Ind., factory featured in the Obama campaign video." Oops. Well, that certainly didn’t get headlined in the nightly network news.

Another statement, this time from our GettingAmericaBack.org website: "It has been revealed that President Obama was not only not born in America, he comes from a very different Alternate Universe. How do we know? ‘The private sector’s doing fine,’ as spoken by Obama in June of 2012. That’s how we know he could never have come from our world."

Another article, this time by L. Gordon Crovitz, in The Wall Street Journal notes that a very specific company and a very specific individual is actually responsible for the primary invention of what has become known as the Internet. And, guess what, no matter what Al Gore says, he is not the one. Are we not surprised? Of course we’re not. In fact we’re getting quite used to the endless barrage of ridiculous lies from the far-left dominated Democratic leadership.

So, what has happened to "hope" and "change?" I don’t know about you, but I have come to the inescapable conclusion that I can only fervently "hope" that we will be successful in making a serious "change" in the presidency and in the United States Senate this coming November.

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Well, the Democrats are working hard to get out the black vote. But the Democrats don’t want the blacks to know what’s really going on. With regard to the drop in enrollment in public schools, as reported by ConservativeByte.com, "In big cities, which means inner city kids — we’re not talking whites. Schools are decaying and Obama and his Democrats are keeping those schools open in fealty to the teachers unions and for a whole bunch of other reasons. ... I don’t understand how African-Americans just keep voting Democrat."

And, as reported by Tim Brown in Freedom Outpost, "Portsmouth Democrat State Senator Louise Lucas, a member of Barack Obama’s official ‘Truth (or more appropriately ‘Lies’) Team’ in Virginia, appeared on the John Fredericks Morning Show. She accused Mitt Romney of engaging in racial tactics against Barack Obama and yet though she blathered on about how she views things, she didn’t cite one instance or example of a racial tactic that has been employed."

And while all of this is going on, there are now 12 states that are pressing federal officials for help in the monumental effort to clean up the voter rolls. Frankly, help is slow to come if any at all. And while that effort is going on, we see that political spending by the Unions of America (to the clear benefit of the Democrat candidates) now far exceeds direct donations that are being made by all others to that party.

And through it all, the main media remains fully lodged as the lapdog of the left. By way of example, "ABC’s Brian Ross may have apologized for linking Colorado Tea Party member James Holmes to the alleged violent ‘Batman’ shooter who killed 12 and wounded 59 others ... but that hasn’t stopped threats against Holmes from rolling in." This was reported by Katie Pavlich, the News Editor of Townhall. Brian and his fellow lefties just couldn’t wait to try and tie the Tea Party to the shooting. They try to do this sort of thing every time there is violence.

Of course they are very silent about the fact that the actual shooter was directly tied to the left’s own Occupy movement in San Diego. Yes, every time there is violence, the left-handed media tried to create a tie to someone on the right and most of the time it ends up being someone who has been influenced by and/or otherwise identified with the left.

How inconvenient for them. But of course they just remain quiet about such facts. That doesn’t fit into their agenda.

Well, most Internet folks aren’t fooled by all this nonsense. A quick sweep on the Internet has revealed such gems as, "Oprah’s net worth = $2.7 billion. But liberals are mad at Mitt Romney because he’s worth $250 million; I support Cap and Trade. Cap our spending and Trade Obama; A lawn sign: ‘The Navy Seals removed one threat to America. It’s up to the voters to remove the other; Poor President Obama. If he get re-elected, look at the mess he’s going to inherit."

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In spite of all his efforts to hide his real understanding (and lack of understanding) and his real nature, Obama has shown us bits and pieces of who and what he really is. For instance, is he really a constitutional scholar? Let’s see.

As observed by Breitbart.com recently, "Given recent comments he made from the White House, Obama’s not much of a student of history, or human rights either. In his remarks, Obama suggested that the Declaration of Independence was the first time the God-given rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness had been put to paper.

"As Jefferson wrote in 1825, ‘All its authority rests then on the harmonizing sentiments of the day, whether expressed in conversation, in letters, printed essays, or in the elementary books of public right, as Aristotle, Cicero, Locke, Sidney, etc.’ " In other words, even when he is trying to sound good to a more conservative audience, he still can’t get his facts straight.

We might also add that there are a number of good books that can further educate you and your friends about that man — the real man. Among them there is "The Amateur: Barack Obama in the White House" by Ed Klein, "The Great Destroyer" by David Limbaugh and, oh yes, you might want to read my latest book which chronicles him far more than he would ever like, "The Presidential Chronicles" by Jonathan West.

And let us not forget the determined investigation by Maricopa County (Arizona) Sheriff Joe Arpaio through which we seem to find that there is a strong possibility Obama has submitted fraudulent documentation concerning his origin.

Some of the details coming out, as reported by Darla Dawald, Patriot Action Alert Director, "Mike Zullo, the lead investigator on the cold case posse has uncovered even more questionable error on Obama’s birth certificate. It seems that the coding is wrong for the 1960's and the number that he would have been assigned is a higher number than he should have."

Additionally it was revealed that, "According to Hawaii law you can get a birth certificate and be born outside the providence of Hawaii." And, it was also found that the fathers’ ethnicity was listed as "African" and the term "African" was never used in those days.

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One might say it’s just one more reason why the Obama administration has such a problem with the concept of "transparency" — which he hasn’t honored and, of course, that was just one of so many promises that never saw the light of day once he was in office. So no one should be too surprised with that list that has been circulating all over the Internet.

It lists, among so many points, the following: His Occidental College records – SEALED. His Columbia College records – SEALED. His Columbia Thesis paper – SEALED. His Harvard College records – SEALED. His Selective Service Registration – SEALED. His medical records – SEALED. His Illinois State Senate schedule – SEALED. His Illinois State Senate records – SEALED. His law practice client list – SEALED. A certified copy of his original birth certificate – SEALED. The signed and embossed paper Certification of Live Birth – SEALED. His baptism record – SEALED. All possible Foreign Student Aid records – SEALED.

As one responder put it, "For God’s sake. Does this man actually exist?" That’s interesting since poli-sci students he took classes with and so many of the faculty at Columbia, don’t seem to remember him at all. Similar comments have come from his other academic settings. He certainly made a big impression, didn’t he?

Well, if that was what was happening then, what is happening now? Many nightmares are materializing, as we have previously noted. And you might want to add some of the examples of Today’s Obama outlined by Human Events. His immigration circumvention of Congress, his Fast and Furious debacle, his ObamaCare dictatorial imposition, the recess appointments (even when there is no legitimate recess), the endless Executive Orders of a dictator, and on and on it goes. An example of just one of these Executive Orders: It allows the Department of Homeland Security to seize any and all private communications facilities that it might care to deem necessary. And also let us not forget his extensive and ever growing Enemies List. (With "The Presidential Chronicles" book now out, you can be sure this writer has been added to that list as well.)

With everything else (and there is an enormous amount of "everything else"), you can add the fact that the leaking of very sensitive government secrets from the White House (that’s where all the examinations point to ) — sensitive secrets that seem to be fashioned in a way that makes the president look good — all of that never seems to get properly identified and resolved. It just keeps on going on. It would seem that, once again, Eric Holder is sleeping soundly in his Justice Department office. In fact, it may even be a case of catatonic withdrawal.

And, just in case you’re wondering about the source of this problem, ConservativeByte has published the following release, "Senator Diane Feinstein (D-CA), Chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, said the White House appears to be responsible for leaking classified national security information. ‘I think the White House has to understand that some of this is coming from their ranks,’ Feinstein said at a World Affairs Council forum, according to the Associated Press."

It has been revealed that some of these leaks are devastating to our national security. Of course White House officials deny everything. They seem to be, as their commander-in-chief is, subscribers to the frequent liar plan.

But none of this is all that surprising. We have seen endless frat-party behavior and other irresponsibilities from today’s inhabitants of that once staid and honorable facility. We have even read of witnessed obscene gestures and similar behavior exhibited toward historic paintings and statues by workers and guests in the White House.

We also note, from the article by Kevin Glass in Townhall.com, that "While President Obama exhorts Americans to support tax hikes on high income individuals, families and businesses, he could stand to look inside the halls of the White House for some extra revenue.

"Andrew Malcolm, over at Investor’s Business Daily, points us to the hard numbers: three dozen Obama executive advisers and aides owe hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes — and federal workers as a whole owe the IRS $3.4 billion in unpaid taxes." And the report goes on and on with such detail.

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We see that right after one of Obama’s infamous gaffs, his people came out with a video ad saying that, with regard to the Obama claim that you didn’t do that — you didn’t build your business, they offered their ad saying that he didn’t say that. Evidently what I saw and heard didn’t really happen. I must have just imagined it, right?

What I want to know is, when did "hope" change and turn into "hype?" When was truth accepted as the unavoidable casualty?

And, when I look at all the shameful and often illegal things that they have done, and continue to do, I am reminded of the following: "The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery or other High Crimes and Misdemeanors." – Article II, Section 4, United States Constitution.

Meanwhile, it would seem that we are not only losing Latin America, we are also losing very badly in the Middle East. Why? Well, by way of example, as detailed by Gracy Howard in The Washington Times, "Syrian opposition leaders fear President Obama’s re-election campaign has taken precedence over their country’s humanitarian crisis, according to a delegation that visited Washington, DC late last month.

"Representatives from the Syrian National Council, Syria’s largest rebel alliance, and Kurdish opposition leaders met members of Congress and the State Department, but say they hit a ‘wall’ at the White House." That’s the way it is. That’s the way our president does business.

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In the Justice Department, we see that Eric Holder remains in fine form. Mr. Holder tells us that voter ID laws are racist, right? Well, if that’s so, then what is our Attorney General who suggests that only white people are evidently capable of getting an ID?

It might also be good for us to mention that those voter ID laws have been found, by the courts, to be no undue burden under the Voting Right Act and under our Constitution. And, in addition, states have made it clear that all voters will be assisted in the effort to obtain such IDs and that, for those who cannot afford even a nominal fee for the process, it will be provided at no cost. But of course Holder goes ahead with every effort he can apply to remove any semblance of accurate voter identification. And you know why, don’t you?

They also don’t want you to pay any attention to the fact that the Pennsylvania Department of State has discovered that around 9% of Pennsylvania voters don’t have any sort of valid ID. And we even have Mike Baker reporting in the Associated Press that, "...residents and election administrators around the country have reported a series of bizarre and questionable [political voter] mailings addressed to animals, dead people, non-citizens..." and others. We have been told that such strange mailings happen because the mailing lists were obtained from the voter registration lists.

And then there is this interesting information from ConservativeByte: "Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s campaign is asking Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli to launch an investigation into voter-registration forms that are being sent to Virginia residents and addressed to deceased relatives, children, family pets and others ineligible to vote." And this sort of thing is happening all over the nation.

And now we see Obama’s Justice Department working with that fraud ridden ACORN group and their "Project Vote" to get all sorts of people registered to vote — some say, including illegal aliens. That’s right, after all the charges and convictions, they are back in business again, and now with the help of the Justice Department.

While all of that is happening, investigators have come forward to suggest that the current Fast and Furious scandal has a striking resemblance, in some ways, to that old Nixon Watergate scandal. But of course you won’t hear a peep about anything like this in our lap dog main-stream media, now will you? Of course not.

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The Democrat/left continues it’s version of the Tea Party activities with it’s "Occupy" take-overs and demonstrations (with violence, of course). The difference between the two is stark and extremely obvious. Only the blind cannot see that. And those on the left seem to have that deficiency in great abundance, as we cannot help but notice.

Many of the Occupiers mask themselves and sport such signs as "All my heroes kill cops." And the black "avengers" and similar ethnic mobs continue to terrorize various areas in the big cities in America.

As reported by Colin Flaherty (WND): "Seattle has ‘fewer problems with racism than other cities,’ said the blog So Seattle. ‘Ethnic tensions ... seem less tangible.’ While Seattle may not have the day-in, day-out racial violence of a Chicago, or the peculiar racial lawlessness of small-town Peoria, more and more people are paying attention to the increasingly visible and brutish mayhem block mobs are visiting on their victims.

And as further reported, "...it is far from isolated, as even the local TV news reporters discovered. Bus rider Gil Costello told the local Fox affiliate, KCPQ, violence on the bus ‘happens all the time. They just never report it.’ The Fox station reported a few months before that a disabled man was ‘terrorized’ on a bus then punched in the face and knocked out.

And in an additional report from World Net Daily, "Black mobs are now beating Jews in New York. Just what in the world is going on in New York City, where black mobs are now targeting jews? Wasn’t the election of Barack Obama supposed to heal the nation of any racial and religious divide?" Obama’s lack of action or comment would suggest otherwise.

And even in Anaheim, California, the home of the original and one and only Disneyland, black and Latino violence has burst out all over that town. It seems to have been set off by two fatal shootings of Latino men by police who found themselves faced with armed and dangerous situations. Never mind. That didn’t matter. They just needed an excuse to go crazy.

And let us not forget the millions of illegal aliens. Many legal immigrants feel deeply betrayed, because Obama has begun his legalization process. The legal immigrants had worked hard to learn English and all about America history and to show they are hard working and responsible. As Bruce Tinsley noted in The Washington Times, maybe they "...should’ve been learning how to sneak over the border."

And then there is that big, strategically located billboard in Arizona that reads, "Attention illegal aliens. Extranjeros de emigrante ilegal de atencion. Arizona does not want you. California does. Free food - Housing - Medical - School - Hospital. No drivers license or insurance [needed]. No taxes. Turn left at Route 8."

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We are hearing endless horror stories about the operations of TSA at our airports. Just one of the many, as reported by American Vision News, Joel Mc Durmon: "A group of students leaving the annual conference of the National Association of the Deaf in Louisville had a rather awful experience courtesy of the Transportation Security Administration in that city’s airport.

"One of the deaf travelers wrote about it on his blog: ‘It was a very public week-long event downtown, make no bones about it. As such, the shirt very clearly identified me as deaf. While I was going through the TSA, [I could see] some of them started laughingNews: In my direction. I thought it might’ve been someone behind me, but I found out otherwise.

Do you ever wonder just how it is that we end up with such a collection of primitive, buffoons operating the TSA public airport facilities? As Vision To America (and several other secondary news sources) tell us, "A TSA supervisor turned whistle-blower has revealed to the Alex Jones Show how the federal agency is deliberately directing its staff to hire people with criminal records who exhibit violent tendencies and psychopathic behavior.

" ‘We have a program in the state of Rhode Island where we take prisoners who are out for non violent drug offenses and everything else — basically sociopaths — and we’re sending them to a ten day course and getting them out in uniform checking people,’ said the whistle-blower. Rob added that people who seemed professional were disregarded in favor of applicants who had criminal records and displayed a tendency for megalomania and power-trip behavior.’ "

It would seem that under the current administration in Washington, we can expect this sort of thing and much, much more. As Michelle Malkin wrote in the Washington Times, "When it comes to soldiers, breast-feeding moms, toddlers and grannies, the Transportation Security Administration is not just hands-on, it’s hands-all-over. But when it comes to illegal alien pilot trainees, our homeland security bureaucracy’s policy is still stuck in pre-9/11 mode: hands off, blinders on." Her comment was based on a revealing finding by the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

As reported by CNS News, "The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) approved flight training for 25 illegal aliens at a Boston-area flight school that was owned by yet another illegal alien, according to the Government Accountability Office." Oops.

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With the various Muslim activities, passive and militant, we find everything from Iran getting around most sanctions with relative ease and the operation of a dangerous North Korean/Iranian axis. And at the United Nations something happened that one would normally expect from inhabitants of a mental institution. The UN has granted a top arms-control post to Iran.

And, as if that weren’t enough, agents from Israel have identified Iran as being behind the deadly bomb blast in a Bulgarian tourist resort. And with all of that, we have the theater of absurdity here in America with Saudi students flooding in from the Middle East and a visa that was granted to Hani Nour Eldin, a member of a designated foreign terrorist organization.

Further to the east we find China cracking down on just about everything, even including simple Internet chatter. And, as reported by Miles Yu in The Washington Times, "China has about one-quarter of the world’s population but more than 80 percent of the world’s people categorized as ‘not free’ and denied the most basic rights, according to a recent Freedom House report."

We also see that China and its neighbors in the South China Sea are moving closer and closer to a war footing. South-East Asian nations are becoming seriously alarmed. And, "A Chinese general recently offered an alarming assessment that a future conflict with the United States is coming as a result of U.S. ‘Containment’ policies.

"The release of a transcribed speech by People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Maj. Gen. Peng Guangqian revealed the harsh words toward the United States and those in China he regards as muddle-headed peacenik intellectuals." (Miles Yu - Washington Times) We can only hope that his influence is not extensive.

And Russia is moving forward with new intelligence developments that are reminiscent of the old Cold War. They are even training children to be agents. And in the Eastern Mediterranean, we see that Russia has sent a flotilla of 11 warships to directly challenge the U.S. With the explosive volatility of that region, it becomes a very serious issue.

The most sophisticated assessments of all this world-wide insecurity seems to point directly to the inability and/or the lack of effective American leadership at this time. It always has been a vital, mitigating influence. It is no more.

And what are we doing here on the home front? We are warning that our national electricity grid is wide open to easy sabotage, hackers all other assortments of destructive activity. But of course we aren’t actually doing anything substantial about the problem.

We are also faced with a serious series of cut-backs in our military that will increase our vulnerability in a major way. And most Americans either don’t know about what’s happening (because the majority of our media isn’t making a real issue about such things) or most of those who do know, prefer to look the other way and pretend this just isn’t happening.

We have a dangerous future ahead for us.

==========================

This month, on the healthcare front: The leftist media in America continues to feed disinformation throughout the land. As Steve Elliott reports from Grassfire Nation, "Just days before the House voted [recently] to repeal ObamaCare, the Washington Post reported that it would be the 33rd such vote to repeal ObamaCare. This spread rapidly through the liberal intelligentsia and it became the main talking point in the left’s effort to discredit the repeal vote. The real goal was to insulate Harry Reid and the leftists in the Senate during an election year."

However, as Elliott’s report continues, "As our Liberty News is reporting, this was only the second time the House has voted on a repeal of ObamaCare. The other votes involved getting rid of small parts of ObamaCare because Congress was beginning to find out what’s in the law."

Grassroots Action offers several points of interest in the debate: "According to Obama’s own chief actuary in the Department of Health and Human Services, ObamaCare will savage Medicare by cutting $575.1 billion in this decade alone." The Grassroots website further notes that ObamaCare, "...will affect all aspects of health care for seniors coverage, prices, and access."

It is further noted that, "Medicare Advantage — the popular program which gives seniors more choices in healthcare — is already being decimated by ObamaCare with major insurers dropping the plan altogether and Obama’s actuary projecting a 50% reduction in the program by 2017. And then there’s the reality of healthcare rationing that will be implemented by ObamaCare’s Independent Payment Advisory Board, appointed by Obama with the power to make Medicare rationing decisions without Congressional oversight."

It is important for everyone to realize what medical rationing means. It means the power to decide who will receive critical treatment and who will not. In other words, we are talking about a true death panel. It’s in the program. It really is.

It should also be realized that Judge David Kithil of Marble Falls, Texas has highlighted some of ObamaCare’s HB 3200 and offers us many insights, including the following: "Page 50/Section 152: The bill will provide insurance to all non-U.S. residents, even if they are here illegally. Page 58 and 59: The government will have real-time access to an individual’s bank account and will have the authority to make electronic fund transfers from those accounts. Page 65/Section 164: The plan will be subsidized (by the government) for all union members, union retirees and for community organizations (such as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now — ACORN).

"Page 203/line 14-15: The tax imposed under this section will not be treated as a tax. Page 241 and 253: Doctors will all be paid the same regardless of specialty, and the government will set all doctors’ fees. Page 272/Section 1145: Cancer hospitals will ration care according to the patient’s age. Page 317 and 321: The government will impose a prohibition on hospital expansion. Page 429/line 13-25: The government will specify which doctors can write an end-of-life order." And Judge Kithil further noted that, "It is specifically stated that this bill [law] will not apply to members of Congress. Members of Congress are already exempted from the Social Security system and have a well-funded private plan that covers their retirement needs."

If that wasn’t enough, we have a special review by The Wall Street Journal that offers the following information: "Democrats promised that health-care reform would be a smooth exercise in expert planning, but so far its implementation has been as anarchic and improvisational as the Affordable Care Act’s passage. Yet amid the mayhem, there’s a chance to mitigate some of the damage.

It was also observed that many states are refusing to cooperate, "...as a kind of civil disobedience." And it might also be added that as many as sixteen states have also set limits on the number of prescription drugs the states will cover for Medicaid patients (according to Kaiser Health News). To say that this whole mess is a study in total chaos is a classic understatement.

The Daily Caller calls attention to other, equally important concerns. "Eighty-three percent of American physicians have considered leaving their practices over President Barack Obama’s health care reform law, according to a survey released by the Doctor-Patient Medical Association." And further, "Even if doctors do not quit their jobs over the ruling, America will face a shortage of at least 90,000 doctors by 2020."

Want to learn more about these many problems? We would suggest the well researched book, "Priceless: Curing the Healthcare Crisis," by John C. Goodman. This book shows us that there are answers out there, if we are willing to consider them.

And then we have that infamous abortion mill, Planned Parenthood. We can recall how the connection of this group with the Susan G. Komen cancer fighting organization did considerable damage to the Komen efforts. Now they are doing all they can to rebuild, with more care this time, I’m sure.

Further, as reported by the Charisma news staff, "The Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys, representing former Planned Parenthood clinic director Sue Thayer filed a lawsuit against the abortion giant’s Iowa affiliate." That particular affiliate, "...allegedly submitted ‘repeated false, fraudulent, and/or ineligible claims for reimbursements’ to Medicaid and failed to meet acceptable standards of medical practice." This definitely is not the first time that Planned Parenthood has gotten into trouble.

==========================

Now let’s see how the scattered remains of the American media is doing these days. It would seem most of the public doesn’t feel so well about it. As reported in The Washington Times, " ‘Americans’ confidence in television news is at a new low, with 21 percent of adults expressing a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in it. This marks a decline from 27 percent last year and from 46 percent when Gallup started tracking confidence in television news in 1993,’ says Gallup analyst Lymari Morales."

And then there are those race riots. As Thomas Sowell reports for WND, "Where the violence is too widespread and too widely known locally to be ignored, both the local media and public officials often describe what happened as unspecified ‘young people;’ attacking unspecified victims for unspecified reasons. But videos of the attacks often reveal both the racial nature of these attacks and the racial hostility expressed by the attackers."

Further, as retired Colonel Ken Allard, and former NBC News military analyst tells us in The Washington Times, "I testified this month on Stuxnet and the White House leaks because of personal experience with something people in Washington often prefer to forget: The New York Times spies, lies and routinely distorts the truth.

And still further, as reported by Rev. Larry Wallenmeyer through the Patriot Action Alerts, recently, "...over 100,000 showed up for the ‘Restoring Love Events,’... what does the MSM focus on? The religious-bigot, hate-filled Pharisees from the Westboro ‘church’ " Well of course, what else would you have expected? Most of America never has any idea at all that such marvelous events ever happen.

And even further yet, The Blaze reports, "...even the 4th of July, arguably the one day when every American regardless of party affiliation, should be celebrating, MSNBC has decided it want to remind its viewers of just how many awful things America has been responsible for."

And beyond further, David Martin, the Executive Vice President of the Media Research Center writes, "Now, in the wake of the horrific shooting in Aurora [Colorado], the liberal media once again rushes to smear us, falsely and before the facts were in. ABC’s Brian Ross, with the full blessing of the former Bill Clinton staffer turned ‘journalist’ George Stephanopoulos, attempted to link Friday’s shooting in Colorado to a Tea Party member. Incredibly, Ross relayed this information even as he admitted that he had not verified the shooter’s identity. Within hours, we learned that the shooter was not a Tea Party member, but the damage was done."

Of course it was. That’s what they wanted. And the Tea Party and conservatives in general and the Republican party in particular, are smeared once again by the media. But of course they aren’t telling you that it was also discovered that the shooter had actually been involved with the left-wing Occupy movement (in San Diego). Ross just somehow couldn’t manage to bring that fact out, now could he? Nor did the majority of other left-handed media reporters and commentators. Gee, I wonder why?

And still further than beyond further, Joseph Farah reports, in Joe Miller’s Restoring Liberty, on a little known admission from The New York Times that those, "...with access to the White House submit their copy to government officials for review, ‘correction’ and approval before it reaches the American people."

The report further states that, "The quotations come back redacted, stripped of colorful metaphors, colloquial language and anything even mildly provocative. They are sent by email from the Obama headquarters in Chicago to reporters who have interviewed campaign officials under one major condition: the press office has veto power over what statements can be quoted and attributed by name."

In other areas of the absurd, we find, as reported by Conservative Byte, "The unemployment rate in the city of Chicago is approximately 9.8 percent, well above the national average. Since Monday night, one 17-year-old boy has been shot and 13 others have been wounded in shooting across the city. And that’s just the most recent wave of shootings to plague the city — dozens more have been shot over the last few weeks. And Mayor Rahm Emanuel is taking action: He’s banning Chick-Fil-A." That irony was carefully left out of the vast majority of media coverage.

However, Chick-fil-A has drawn gigantic crowds all over the country in support of the restaurant, who’s owner is not pleased with the usurpation of the heterosexual marriage process and form by homosexuals. The left, pandering to special interests as usual, did it’s best to "punish" Chick-Fil-A for the owners private opinion, which does not reflect any serving or hiring restrictions in the restaurant chain.

You didn’t hear that big story in the nightly news now did you?

==========================

On the Middle Eastern Muslim front, we learn that Syria is claiming to have chemical weapons. Increased intelligence details reaffirms Iran’s indirect and sometimes overt strikes against Israel. And in America we learn that Muslim’s continue to assert themselves withing the weakened national culture. By way of example, a Muslim clerk in a Louisiana Texaco station refused service to an American soldier (as reported by Patriot Action Network).

And with the continuing Muslim preferential treatment in the White House, we are once again reminded of a section from Obama’s book "The Audacity of Hope." It goes like this: "I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction."

What is so very hard for most of us to understand, is how on earth it is possible for Obama to be so revealing in his own writing, followed by his supportive actions and positions backing up such writings, and so many citizens will not recognize what is happening.

It reminds me of Adolf Hitler’s book, "Mein Kampf," in which that socialist leader of Nazi Germany also took provocative positions that most folks just didn’t want to pay attention to and were unwilling to recognize were happening (until it was too late). Will we ever learn? Probably not.

==========================

So, now would you like to take a look at our failing educational system? No? Well, I don’t blame you, but we’ve got to do it anyway.

Alicia Mundy wrote the following question and answer, in The Wall Street Journal: "What do the American Ireland Fund, the Rev. Al Sharpton and the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network have in common? All have received some of the more than $330 million that America’s two largest unions spent in the past five years on outside causes, political campaigns, lobbying and issue education."

And most of that seems to have gone to liberal political support and lobbying that seems to have little to nothing to do with the proper education and welfare of our children. I know, I don’t like it either, but that’s the way it is.

And in the same publication, Campbell Brown tells us "By resisting almost any change aimed at improving our public schools, teachers unions have become a ripe target for reformers across the ideological spectrum. Even Hollywood, famously sympathetic to organized labor, has turned on unions with the documentary ‘Waiting for Superman’ (2010) and a feature film, ‘Won’t Back Down,’ to be released later this year.

"But perhaps most damaging to the unions’ credibility is their position on sexual misconduct involving teachers and students in New York schools, which is even causing union members to begin to lose faith." And as further noted, "If this kind of behavior were happening in any adult workplace in America, there would be zero tolerance. Yet our public school children are defenseless."

Yes, it’s slowly but surely permeating all areas of academia now. A couple of good examples include such things as reported by Michael Childs through Patriot Action Alerts, with, "Tom Kubistant, an instructor at Western Nevada College, is accused of requiring students to reveal personal sex-fantasies in order to pass a ‘human sexuality’ class, and to masturbate, and to allegedly force freshmen and late-high school students to ‘openly discuss their orgasms’ and masturbate, according to the federal complaint, filed by a former Western Nevada College student."

And, Chelsea Schilling (WND) reports, "Men pretending to have homosexual intercourse, discussion of ‘kinky sex,’ hats with plastic testicles and cross-dressing, it was all part of an official California public school district retreat, a lawsuit says. School administrators from the Lake Elsinore Unified School District have participated in the annual retreats since 2008, according to court documents.

And then we have another interesting example of some of the drama in our failing schools. As The Wall Street Journal describes it, "One of the modern civil-rights tragedies is the immutability of public education, especially at the lousiest schools run for the benefit of their employees rather than students. New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s latest lesson in teachers union intransigence is a case in point.

You think that’s going to work. Sure it is. As the editorial continues, "So at the end of the school year, 3,600 pink-slips went out to the teachers, administrators and principals of the bottom 24. Those laid off were told they could be rehired if they reapplied, but they’d be competing on merit against 26,000 fresh applicants.

"The unions threatened to sue, claiming the move violated collective bargaining and in particular their first-in, last-out rules that protect the jobs of the longest serving teachers without regard to effectiveness. The city submitted to voluntary arbitration." And the result? "Late last month sole arbitrator Scott Buchheit issued a decision siding with the unions." And that’s the end of that.

And with all of that, the New York charter schools are doing great things for their students. But of course, just try and get into one of them. There are few charter schools and very few openings. So, most of the students from the inner-cities can’t read at all well, if at all, and their math is practically non-existent. And their social skills? Well, some of them are good at reloading. What else would you have expected?

==========================

And now there is what passes itself off as our legal system. We see such things as Zimmerman, who had the audacity to defend himself against a clearly dangerous young black, trying to get a new judge for his trial. Why? The current judge has shown very obvious hostility toward the defendant. Good reason, but you’ll also need lots of luck on this. That sort of thing doesn’t seem to matter that much, far more often than you might think.

And highly predigest and out of control judges can be found everywhere these days. As Jonathon M. Seidl reports for The Blaze, "A local family court judge in Winfield, WV, absolutely loses his mind during a divorce hearing involving a local pastor. The judge, William M. ‘Chip’ Watkins III, was accusing Rev. Arthur D. Hage of talking to the media after a previous hearing.

And then we have cases like this one, reported by Steve Lindsey (CNS News): "An Oregon man [Gary Harrington of Eagle Point] was recently arrested, convicted and given a 30-day jail sentence and over $1,500 in fines for storing rainwater on his own property. Apparently in Oregon all water belongs to the state." Yes, this really happened. You can’t make up this kind of stuff.

And one could go on and on with an endless parade of examples like these. Our legal system has been unraveling for years, and now, under Obama’s Holder, the circus has quite often become completely unmanageable. How nice for the lawyers (and the politicians). How horrible for all the rest of us.

==========================

And so it goes. Another month, and a few more well placed nails in our coffin. Lots of luck, America. I guess we’ll have to see what happens in November, now won’t we?

The Final Month of 2012

   December, 2012. This was it. This last month was the month that history will note as a major milestone in the decline of America. This month it continues — with a vengeance.

   A few of the economic headlines this month (in the order of their occurrence), from The Wall Street Journal: "Slow Hiring, Spending Hit Factories; Consumer Spending Wobbles; Research Outlays To Decline Next Year; Global Currency Tensions Rise; Consumers’ Optimism Sags." You have noticed most of it, if you don’t have a job, have been laid off, are buying food, gas, and paying your utility bill, or you have had to make just about any sort of purchase at all.

   We further learn that advertising in most of the world continues to decline. And we can see that such nations as Germany and the U.K. still have triple-A ratings, while America is still at Double-A+, with the strong possibility of a further downgrade. Meanwhile, A Communist Chinese bank is now funding two San Francisco housing developments with the major work to be done by a Chinese-government owned construction company.

   So, what has our government been doing? Well, it would seem that our latest cliff-avoiding budget deal involves higher taxes now for almost everyone and spending reform to be considered later on. We know how that never works out, don’t we?

   Of course our president tells us it is only going to hit the high earners. Oh, is it? As the WSJ notes about such tax increases, "...tax rates are already high — much higher than is commonly understood — and increasing them will likely further depress the economy, especially by affecting the number of hours Americans work." And, with the middle-class tax cut expirations, the increasing inflation (due to worthless money creation), special new energy and environmental fees, a $1 trillion ObamaCare tax obligation hitting just about everyone January 1st, we are all getting damaged badly.

   And in California, a state that is showing the federal government the way to go for a complete economic collapse, we find that after a new and massive state tax hike, a notable revenue loss has followed, as individuals and companies flee the state in order to survive. And in Washington it’s business as usual as noted by the Internet’s Freedom Outpost: "In case there is still anyone out there who continues to believe that the 2008 campaign lines that Barack Obama gave about changing the way Washington works, stopping ‘politics as usual,’ and providing more transparency in government are true, then get a load of this.

   "Obama demonstrated just how partisan and how much of a power grabber he is. He indicated that if he were not given unlimited powers to raise the debt ceiling, apart from Congressional approval, that he might just veto his own tax hike proposal should it come to his desk." Can you believe that? He was addressing a bunch of corporate CEOs at the Business Roundtable. Many found it hard to believe what they heard.

   One shouldn’t be too surprised. Obama has increased our national debt in an amount greater than all of the first 43 presidents combined. And what’s that we hear about GM no longer being Government Motors — claiming to have paid back it’s government loan? Well guess what, it isn’t so. GM still owes around $20 billion, an amount that is said may not ever be paid back at all.

   And now let’s look at the little guys. As Congressman John Carter of Texas says, "The threat of fining a business because a teenage employee put two extra slices of pepperoni on a pizza goes from crazy to scary." That’s one of the many "rules" to be found in our new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. And what has that got to do with patient care? Nothing. What do they care. Things don’t have to fit together in any sort of logical manner — not any longer.

   Along that same line of "reasoning" we find the Securities and Exchange Commission going after Netflix in a big way. As reported by Holman W. Jenkins, Jr. in The Wall Street Journal, "The agency sent a notice to the company this week warning of enforcement action because CEO Reed Hastings posted a brief not on Facebook last July mentioning that Netflix customers had streamed a billion hours of video in the month of June."

   Wow, that’s terrible! I think the world may come to an end. Ah, but our federal government will come to the rescue. After all, we can’t have a company do that well, now can we? Of course not. Success must be dealt with.

   But of course our government is really more inclined to spend its time and money on much more meaningful activities, right? Such as with the Defense Department spending $100,000 studying the philosophical question as to whether it could be said that Jesus could have also died for such creatures as Klingons.

   What I want to know is who the hell threw open the asylum gates?

   And while we’re at it, let’s consider how to lie with statistics. Let’s take a close look at the figures our government would rather we not consider. As described by Spencer Jakab in the WSJ, "Consider the 4.4% trough in unemployment in March, 2007. Back then, another measure of unemployment including ‘discouraged’ workers was just 4.6%. An even broader gauge called the U6, which includes marginally employed people seeking full-time work, was 8%. Today those are 8.4% and 14.6%, respectively. So the ‘employed’ aren’t generating as much income as they used to."

   Has anybody got any solutions at all for this endless mess we’re in? Well, one group has a "shovel-ready" job for our lawmakers. Bury the Death Tax. And Senator Rob Portman has the unmitigated gall to suggest we should actually make a serious effort toward a balanced approach to our deficit. Good grief! Who ever heard of such a thing. And of course there are lots more possibilities like that. But they are what you call "politically incorrect," so they are really not to be considered, right?

   My concluding comments on this particular subject are best expressed in the following quote: "America has a debt and a failure of leadership. Americans deserve better. I therefore intend to oppose the effort to increase America’s debt limit." Well, that most certainly goes completely against Obama’s position. That can’t possibly be considered. But wait — that was Obama, back in March of 2006 when he was a Senator. Those are his exact words. Interesting, yes?

   And so it goes.

   The imperial president is quite busy in a number of areas, among them, with a new rash of appointments. Let’s start with Susan Rice. We all know about how she came forward to deliver the false propaganda that the administration wanted her to deliver with regard to the Benghazi slaughter. What most folks don’t know is that she also has a very checkered past in such areas as Rwanda, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, etc.

   With just one example, as Bret Stephens reveals in The Wall Street Journal, "On June 8, 1999, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Ms. Rice, then the assistant secretary of state for African affairs, delivered testimony on a range of issues, and little Sierra Leone was high on the list. An elected civilian government led by a former British barrister named Ahmad Kabbah had been under siege for years by a rebel group known as the Revolutionary United Front, led by a Libyan-trained guerrilla named Foday Sankoh."

   As further revealed, "Even by the standards of Africa in the 1990s, the RUF set a high bar for brutality. It’s soldiers were mostly children, abducted from their parents, fed on a diet of cocaine and speed. Its funding came from blood diamonds. It was internationally famous for chopping off the limbs of its victims. It’s military campaigns bore such names as ‘Operation No Living Thing.’ "

   So, what happened? "What to do with a group like this? The Clinton administration had an idea. Initiate a peace process. It didn’t seem to matter that Sankoh was demonstrably evil and probably psychotic. It didn’t seem to matter, either, that he had violated previous agreements to end the war. ‘If you treat Sankoh like a statesman, he’ll be one,’ was the operative theory."

   So, "...as Ms. Rice was keen to insist in her Senate testimony that June, it was the Africa hands at the State Department who were doing most of the heavy lifting. ‘It’s been through active U.S. diplomacy behind the scenes,’ she explained. ‘It hasn’t gotten a great deal of press coverage, that we and others saw the rebels and the government of Sierra Leone come to the negotiating table just a couple of weeks ago, in the context of a negotiated cease-fire, in which the United States played an important role.’

   A month later, Ms. Rice got her wish with the signing of the Lomé Peace Accord. It was an extraordinary document. In the name of reconciliation, RUF fighters were given amnesty. Sankoh was made Sierra Leone’s vice president. To sweeten the deal, he was also put in charge of the commission overseeing the country’s diamond trade. All this was foisted on President Kabbah. What was more, the U.S. was even prepared tolend Sankoh a helping hand."

   And yes, "For months thereafter, Ms. Rice cheered the accords at every opportunity ... she defended Sankoh’s participation in the government." However, "Three months later, the RUF took 500 U.N. peacekeepers as hostages and was again threatening Freetown." It once again became a complete mess. Eventually, the slaughtering rebels were stopped. But no thanks to Ms. Rice, you can be sure.

   And then there is the president’s appointment of the infamous "Swift-Boat Kerry." As Seth Lipsky noted in the WSJ, "Why in the world is Mr. Obama floating the name of John Kerry for secretary of either state or defense? It is hard to think of anyone who did more to besmirch the name of the Gis who fought in Vietnam than Sen. Kerry."

   Bill Gertz, in The Washington Times, tells us why he feels John Kerry would be a very bad choice. "The reason: Officials oppose the Massachusetts Democrat for hiring John Kiriakou to serve on the staff of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, of which Mr. Kerry is chairman.

   That’s the sort of thing that happens under Kerry. And of course there is also Senator Hagel, who is on the list for possible placement as the Defense Secretary. As reported in The Wall Street Journal, " ‘Politically, who among us is going to stand up and defend Iran or Libya?’ he told the Senate in June, 2001. He proceeded to defend both, calling sanctions against the Tehran and Gadhafi regimes ‘an absolute charade,’ ‘ill-considered’ and ‘breaching the spirit of multilateralism so necessary to achieve success.’ "

   And, "...the former Senator has been a notable critic of missile defenses and he wanted to halt their development as long as Russia is opposed. This is no small matter because Vladimir Putin wants to use arms-control talks to curtail U.S. missile defenses in the next four years." And one could go on and on. With all of this, survival in the coming four years could become one very difficult task.

   And let us not forget the appointment of the "court jester," Joe Biden to head the task force on gun policy. Expect some suggestions, none of which will really make that much difference at all. It reminds me of that Benghazi report, which you can expect will not ever really point to the high level of responsibility in our government. But there is one thing you can be sure of. China is demanding that American citizens be disarmed. That’s right. That’s the statement from the Chinese state-controlled media.

   With regard to other appointments, there is Jeffrey Immelt. As ConservativeByte.com informs us, "Jeffrey Immelt, Chairman and CEO of General Electric and Chairman of the White House Council on Jobs and Competitiveness was interviewed by Charlie Rose on Bloomberg Television. When asked about China, Immelt praise the Chinese and their centrally planned economy." And he is directly quoted as saying, "The one thing that actually works, state run communism. It may not be your cup of tea, but their government works."

   Of course it does. Authoritarianism backed by force works just fine. Of course you might want some genuine freedom and a lot less corruption. Sorry. They can’t help you there, Mr. Immelt. However, you should know better.

   And with our usual dysfunctional government, irresponsible appointments are only part of the breakdown. An Inspector General’s review finds that a considerable number of illegal aliens are getting federal benefits — benefits that mere citizens like you and I can almost never qualify for. Now isn’t that nice?

   And then there is that story about an ex-Marine who wanted to take his antique rifle into Mexico for hunting in a neighboring country to the south (which he got papers for in America and gave to Mexican border officials for declaration). As accurately reported by Conservative Byte and by Fox News, "He is being held in a notorious Mexican prison where Zetas gang members hold power. His crime? Declaring an antique shotgun to Mexican officials after registering the gun with U.S. Customs Agents on his way to Costa Rica.

   Of course the State Department and the White House have done absolutely nothing to resolve this terrible situation. Eventually, conservative media efforts and a few elected officials in Congress managed to apply enough pressure to get him out, half starved and quite shaken up, as you can imagine.

   At this point, with this example and the many others I have heard about and read about — stay out of Mexico altogether. We are starting to have enough trouble in our own country, with our own breakdown of law and order. If you don’t want to find out the hard way, just how bad it can get (and could get here eventually), then stay away from Mexico!

==========================

   Remember that massively corrupted election we had in November? We reported on it, as you know and so did a number of other conservative and independent reporters. And of course the vast majority of the lame-stream, main-stream liberal media did not.

   We are still hearing about these voter frauds. It’s endless. And now Congress is being urged to do a thorough, in-depth investigation. Will anything significant happen? Possibly so, but I am more inclined to believe that something significant will happen about the time pigs start flying.

   Of course if you will personally dedicate yourself to the full and unflinching investigation of this corruption — if this were to happen with the majority of you who read these words — it might make a difference. Will that happen? Let me see, how are those pigs doing?

==========================

   Security, in this most difficult world, is often hard to come by. It is particularly so now, in both the foreign and domestic settings. Here in America, even in areas like Chicago (which has strict gun laws) we find there have been over 500 killing this year. And most of it was (and still is) Blacks killing other Blacks.

   And, even with that, we find that there is a noticeable shift of crime in general into the once peaceful suburban areas of our nation. So don’t get too smug thinking you’re safe because you don’t live in the big, bad city. A rather frightening example of this would be as described by GodfatherPolitics.com. "City officials in Paragould, Arkansas, a town of 26,000 are recommending a plan that would enact martial law beginning in 2013. The plan, purportedly a response to recent property and violent crimes, would send police into the streets with AR-15 rifles and authorize them to stop anyone in the street and demand to know what they are doing."

   But never fear. Our caring and responsible federal government is responding. We have read of so many interesting samplings, such as with the recent wheelchair-bound child who was brought to tears and detained by the TSA at an airport because they couldn’t get the readings they wanted from their equipment.

   Meanwhile, overseas, we learn that our intrepid Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is backing General Electric in its bid to build nuclear parts in Communist China. (No, that’s not a misprint.) It flies in the face of the general military buildup in China and the growing hostile attitude against the West and against America in particular.

   And let us not forget Iran. As noted in the WSJ, it was reported that, "...Iran had unexpectedly removed fuel rods containing between 22 and 220 pounds of weapons-grade plutonium." And as further noted, "...the U.S. bought Iran’s argument that the country was within its legal rights to operate ‘peaceful’ facilities such as Bushehr [where the rods were], never mind the question of why an oil-rich state would spend billions on a reactor it didn’t need.

   "Far be it for us to suggest the world should be less alarmed by the strides Iran has made in enriching uranium — close to eight tons to reactor-grade level of 5%, along with 238 kilos to a near-bomb grade level of 20%, according to a report last month by the International Atomic Energy Agency. With some additional enrichment, those quantities suffice for probably six bombs.

   "But uranium is not the only route to a bomb. There’s also plutonium, and Iran has long been at work on a plutonium-breeding heavy-water reactor in the city of Arak. The Iranians say the reactor is solely for research, yet IAEF inspectors have not been given access to the plant since August 2011."

   But even so, we see the headlines reading: "Iranian Blamed in U.S. Adviser Death; Iranian Bank in Russia Triggers U.S. Warning; Exemptions To Iran Oil Sanctions Renewed," and on it goes, endlessly. (WSJ headlines)

   The only conclusion that can be drawn is that the world is in trouble — deep trouble. I don’t need to tell you what that means, do I? I don’t think so.

   And with all of this, Obama and his cohorts continue to disarm America. And let us not forget that there are new high-powered microwave emitters (HPM) that can completely disable all electronic devices and EMP (electromagnetic pulse) bursts that can do the same, and put down all electric power as an afterthought. Not possible? We have the beginning of HPM emitters now that can do the job and we are close to EMP — damn close.

   In the wrong hands, the results could put us back into the 1800s, if we should manage to survive at all. Just thought you’d like to know.

   And our government is clearly faulted in that horrendous attack in Libya, while not ever managing to point to the primary responsible individuals at the highest levels. (Of course. What else would you have expected?) And while we’re at it, let’s not forget that a Pentagon report and other intelligence information tells us the Taliban are planning to move right on into Afghanistan as we leave. It’s all been worked out. It’s a done deal.

==========================

   Now we come to that unspeakable event at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A young adult male manages to kill 27, mostly very young little tots — little children at the most lovable age of all. It is heartbreaking beyond words. The town, and the nation, do their best to pull together in grief as they try to understand what has just happened. And they search for answers.

   Information begins to surface that shows us that the killer was deeply troubled and was known as such by others. Yet, somehow nobody ever managed to face the problem for what it was and reach for any sort of solutions at all.

   If you haven’t been in certain conservative web areas, you would have missed this. I want to make sure you don’t miss this. It’s an essay that this writer produced shortly after the Sandy Hook shootings and released to the media (with no appreciable response, of course). It is as follows:

　THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR WHAT HAS BEEN HAPPENING WITH ALL OF THIS SENSELESS VIOLENCE — NONE WHATSOEVER.

   It’s happening more often than ever before in all of our history as a nation. Whether it’s in the workplace, in a mall, in a theater or in a school, it just keeps happening, over and over again. And now we have the slaughter of tiny little children.

   Have you finally had enough or perhaps we should go on with this senseless slaughter? Let’s face it, that’s all we have been doing with all these killings and with all the other terrible things that have been happening in our crumbling society. We just continue to put up with it, don’t we?

   Oh of course we get upset for a little while, each time something like this happens, but then our grief and empathetic responses begin to fade once again, and soon we are right back to being the somewhat mindless souls we seem so comfortable being. How sad.

   But of course so many will say, "But what can we do about it?" And some will parrot the mantra of the Democratic left with, "It’s the guns! Get rid of the guns!" So, does that mean if something is used often enough to kill others, that something should be removed, as if the persons involved didn’t really have that much to do with it and would somehow be deterred from violence by such a removal?

   Well in that case, I guess we had better consider the fact that automobiles are used every day to kill more people (on purpose, by accident, by irresponsible self-impairment, etc.) than in any and all of our wars throughout our history. Ban the automobiles! And while we’re at it, ban those damn pick-up trucks and all the rest of the vehicles! Ban them all! In fact, get rid of everything that has been shown in practice to be fatally dangerous in the wrong hands. And since blunt instruments kill more people than guns or knives, ban hammers and clubs and just about everything else in sight, right?

   If your mind is functioning in any sort of reasonable manner, perhaps you are recognizing such absurdities. Perhaps you are asking, "What is the root cause of these terrible events and what can we really do about it?" I know, since that seems a little bit more reasonable, there will be the emotional reactors who will not be very much inclined to consider going in that direction, right? I would suggest they just humor me for now. Let’s just see where logic might bring us.

   So, what might be the root cause? Might it be an extremely dangerous aberrant behavior pattern that is the major problem? Might be. And might this be detectable, in most people most of the time, in advance? Yes, that might often be possible. Have we not seen that the majority of these extremely dangerous individuals have left behavioral footprints behind them, leading to the final horrific events? — footprints that can be identified in advance?

   If one might realize this, might one also perhaps come to suspect that it could be possible to develop a detection and intervention program that can help such individuals and, in turn, help to protect our society? Oh I know, there are those, like the ACLU, who probably will wail about infringements upon personal rights and such.

   But let’s consider this. I might be at a stoplight at a busy intersection. Sometimes I’m wanting to get somewhere right away, but I find I have come to a red light. How inconvenient for me. The other fellow can go but I can’t. My right to go has been infringed upon.

   Why is that? That’s because, to give us a workable, cooperative function in our complex society, some of our right and freedoms have to have some limits. We must learn to accept some restrictions and timed limitations to gain the practical advantage of safe, interactive harmony.

   Might this suggest we now have what could be the beginning of a reasonable direction for this current problem? Of course the question is whether or not a number of folks will care enough to actually take any of this seriously and become actively involved in the development of the suggested solution.

   Some have written and spoken in favor of sweet reason before, but to no avail. This writer produced an essay about the need for identifying such behavioral footprints and effectively utilizing such information a long, long time ago, shortly after that terrible McDonald’s massacre in San Diego. Was the essay released? Yes it was. Did it get published? No it didn’t. Will it happen this time? I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.

   What do you think?

   And then I signed it and sent it out. And what happened? So far, nothing. Interesting, yes?

==========================

   We have seen a lot of union activities these last few months. As they continue to lose ground, they seem to be turning more and more toward violence. As the Wall Street Journal put it: "Unions lost big in Michigan in November when voters rejected Proposal 2, big labor’s plan to canonize collective bargaining in the state constitution. Now they are facing a backlash with the happy possibility that Michigan could become the 24th right-to-work state."

   And then unions were dealt a severe blow as "Michigan joins 23 other states with laws making it optional for workers to pay union dues." (WSJ) Then, as you might have imagined, union thugs got violent. As reported on a Patriot Action Alert (and by Fox, The Blaze, and few others), "A man running a local hot dog stand in Michigan’s state capital was among those attacked by protesters of the state’s ‘Right to Work’ legislation while he served food in a tent that was torn down."

   As further detailed, "According to the Lansing State Journal, Clint Tarver was hired by the pro-Right-to-Work group Americans for Prosperity to serve hot dogs in the tent. The Blaze reported about the tent’s destruction."

   It was further brought out by The Blaze with graphic video coverage (which this writer saw). "We have footage of not only the attack on the tent, but also of alleged union activists physically attacking conservative writer and comedian Steven Crowder." As further noted, "Crowder was actually at the protest to do some ‘man-on-the-street’ interviews. ‘I went in there to ask them why they were against right-to-work and it immediately got violent.’ " This writer saw the blow-by-blow coverage. There was no doubt it happened and there was no doubt that it was union thugs who were the perpetrators. There was also no doubt that law enforcement was nowhere to be seen.

   In other domestic violence, I offer you the example of what happened with Alexander Calloway of Houston, Texas, as reported on Last Resistance.com. "Calloway, 21 and two other young black men approached a Valero gas station at 3:30 am, only to find it closed and the doors locked. Instead of leaving, Calloway and his friends banged on the front door and yelled at the clerk who was working inside." As further detailed, "In an attempt to resolve the matter, the clerk unlocked the door and tried to end the argument when Calloway hit him in the face. Seeing that the other two men had guns, the clerk drew his own gun out and shot his attacker in the stomach. Calloway was rushed to a local fire station by his cousin. He was then sent to the hospital where he is listed in critical condition.

   "Police watched the surveillance tape of the incident and ruled that the clerk shot in self-defense and that his actions were justified. Of course, the clerk is not black, so even though he was the one who was first assaulted, Calloway’s father, along with a number of others in the local black community are all up in arms and want the clerk arrested and convicted."

   As you know, we have seen this sort of thing, over and over again all across the country. It’s like Trevor Martin all over again. Truth is never the issue. Black indignation is what it’s all about — black against white. Clearly a race-hate issue and clearly ignored by the Holder Justice Department.

==========================

   As the Wall Street Journal tells us, "For sheer political farce, not much can compete with ObamaCare’s passage, which included slipping the bill through the Senate before dawn three Christmas eves ago. But the madcap dash to get ready for the entitlement’s October 2013 start-up date is pretty close second. The size and complexity of the Affordable Care Act meant that its implementation was never going to be easy. But behind the scenes, even states that support or might support the Affordable Care Act are frustrated about the health and Human Services Department’s special combination of rigidity and ineptitude."

   And the effect on small to medium and even many large businesses is nothing short of catastrophic. We find Domino’s founder suing over that Obamacare Birth Control Mandate. We find Walmart, considered as the largest private employer, starting to deny health insurance to new employees, otherwise they will not be able to maintain their low prices, and that could put them out of business.

   And then GodfatherPolitics.com tells us about this one. "Hobby Lobby, a Christian-owned hobby, arts and crafts chain, has decided to risk fines of up to $1.3 million per day and defy the ObamaCare mandate that it provide insurance coverage for abortifacient [abortion] drugs.

   So many businesses will evidently now be forced to abandon founding principles or be forced to go out of business. Considering what we have become, maybe they would be better off by just leaving the country altogether. It wouldn’t be like you are leaving America. America has left you — and me, and everybody else. It’s what I predicted in my 1999 book, "Good-by, America?" Oh, you didn’t know about that book? Well, of course not. The media saw to it you wouldn’t.

   Other areas of our medical system are no better. Medicare fraud in rampant throughout the nation, and government action is little more than window dressing that does nothing substantial to solve the problem, except of course that whatever they pretend to do costs us plenty of money. Of course.

   And while the fraud goes on, so many out there are becoming victims of Social Security and Medicare oppression. One example is someone who was self-employed and never wanted Social Security coverage and decided to go along with just private retirement and private health insurance coverage when his time came, which was workable back then. And then, along came Medicare. He was never told that he no longer had such an option and so when he turned 65, he told Social Security he wasn’t covered and preferred private insurance.

   Evidently the ones he talked with didn’t know or just didn’t choose to tell him that there was no private health insurance available any longer without coverage under Social Security. Since he didn’t have Social Security he found that in order to have any health insurance at all he would have to have Medicare, and with Medicare he would then be able to get at least a supplemental private health insurance, but he couldn’t have even that unless he was covered under Social Security.

   In other words, they changed the rules on him in the middle of the game and never told him about it until it was too late. Now he has to pay a crippling amount of many hundreds of dollars a month to make up for his lack of Social Security coverage. It has now been many years and it represents a huge amount of money. And now he is deeply concerned about being able to make his mortgage payments and to pay his now skyrocketing medical bills.

   That’s a good example of what can happen to you. They seem unable to get the perpetrators of medical fraud but they can do a great job of destroying innocent people that the government has deceived. It would seem that they are very good at that.

   While we’re on the subject, let’s see how the doctors are doing. Of course many are retiring or otherwise withdrawing from the system. And it has now been estimated that over 52,000 new doctors will be needed in the next few years to cover all the new "patients" who are coming on board. Guess what — we haven’t got ‘em and no one has any idea how we will ever manage to get them either.

   And then there is the case of a doctor they completely destroyed (one of several, to be sure). As reported by the lawyer Harvey Silverglate in The Wall Street Journal: "Peter Gleason was a psychiatrist who devoted much of his professional life to caring for what government officials call ‘underserved populations.’ He would have been thrilled to learn that on Dec. 3 in New York, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit issued a ringing opinion that vindicated the conduct for which he was indicted and arrested in 2006.

   Yes, this sort of thing is what our federal government has become. It is an oppressive force now run by a particular political elite and if you get in the way, or it thinks of any reason it wishes to, you can and probable will be destroyed. You may lose your money and you just might lose your life.

   Oh but you may say it is only a very few who have such a sad and frightening result. Well, that few is growing in number. And anyway, numbers can’t justify what has been happening. Should we accept such horrors if the mathematics provide a fairly small number? Does a smaller number make it acceptable? Oppression is oppression in any numbers, wouldn’t you say?

==========================

   If it weren’t so dangerous and debilitating to liberty and personal dignity, today’s America politics would be one gigantic joke. There are so many ways that this is illustrated. Bruce Tinsley (by way of Mallard Fillmore) declares it has been said that, "Fifty-nine percent of white voters voted for Romney because they’re racists — while 93 percent of black voters voted for Obama? That was just a coincidence."

   Meanwhile, the liberal establishment continues its strong-arm rhetoric, as detailed by the huffing and puffing Huffington Post. As revealed by Aaron Klein (WND), "Writing in the Huffington Post, a senior fellow at a George Soros-funded radical think tank with close ties to the Democratic Party seemingly threatened the ‘Discover The Networks’ website. ‘Discover The Networks,’ launched by former radical turned conservative David Horowitz, is a central database that maps out left-wing agendas, activists and causes." Well, we can’t have that now can we?

   We also read the words of Robert Knight in The Washington Times saying, "Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr., who halted photo ID laws in South Carolina and Texas before the November election, suggested on Tuesday in Boston that the United States should consider adopting ‘automatic’ voter registration.

   "This essentially would mean that millions of people who sign up for government benefits but don’t bother to register to vote will be given the franchise." Also, as noted, "It’s the perfect way to grow Big Bird’s Food Stamp Army into an unstoppable force and move America toward the Chicago model of dependency and one-party rule." With the massive voter fraud they have been getting away with, it’s almost a given.

   Our controlled, left-wing media is also helping this along with everything they’ve got. L. Brent Bozell III (Media Research Center) reports that, "As demonstrated in this recent election, the liberal media exhibited unprecedented journalistic malpractice through their blatant censorship of the issues that truly matter.

   "Consider this clear and incredible admission by NBC’s Brian Williams just two days following the November 6 election, ‘With the election now over, it is once again safe to talk about the economy and jobs; now that it is not a campaign issue, it’s back to reality.’ " Well, that really tells it all, doesn’t it?

==========================

   One newspaper also showed us how incredible they can be with regard to the gun issue. As revealed on LastResistance.com, "We all know that aside from a few select publications, legitimate journalism in the United States is long dead. The liberal bias in the media is unparalleled, and this new story just takes the cake.

   Like sex offenders and other dangerous criminals, now gun owners is being treated as though they have committed a crime. And this includes women who are hiding from threatening predators and others who really do need their privacy and protection. But let’s face it, the hard-left doesn’t care. They’re trying to make a point and that’s the price to be paid. But not by them of course. They have armed security at their publishing headquarters. Well of course. Liberals in Washington and Hollywood are protected by armed guards, too. But you better not be able to protect yourself.

   And, with the news about other media elements, we find that "Time" magazine (the magazine of record for the Democratic Party) once again picks Barack Obama as their Person of the Year. Well of course. And some really second rate documentaries were picked as eligible for an Oscar while, at the same time, the successful and highly praised "2016: Obama’s America" was totally ignored. Never mind that it was produced by Oscar winner Gerald Molen who produced "Schindler’s List." It was not considered to be "politically correct."

   One bit of good news however, Newsweek, the now rather pathetic propaganda magazine, has finally been forced to go out of print. In the future, it will only be available to the mentally-dependent online. How sad. Like the Time magazine of bygone days, Newsweek has also sunk to irrelevant obscurity from a proud and honorable past.

   But we still have the Internet, right? Well, maybe not for much longer. The pressure is on there as well. As The Wall Street Journal has reported, "An obscure agency called the International Telecommunication Union is conferring in Dubai this week to revise an equally obscure 1988 communications treaty."

   As further detailed, "The ITU, founded in 1865 to establish international principles for the telegraph, claims the power to regulate the Internet because computers send packets of information over telecommunications lines. That slim pretext has given an opening to authoritarians and international bureaucrats to try to replace the open architecture of the Internet with something they can more easily monitor and control."

   As L. Gordon Crovitz reported in the WSJ, "The open Internet, available to people around the world without the permission of any government, was a great liberation. It was also too good to last. Authoritarian governments this month won the first battle to close off parts of the Internet.

   "At the just-concluded conference of the International Telecommunications Union in Dubai, the U.S. and its allies got outmaneuvered. The ITU conference was highly technical, which may be why the media outside of tech blogs paid little attention, but the result is noteworthy: A majority of the 193 United Nations member countries approved a treaty giving governments new powers to close off access to the Internet in their countries."

   However, as revealed by John Hayward in Human Events, "The quest by the United Nations to impose international regulations on the Internet hit a road-block when the U.S. government declared its unwillingness to sign on to the current draft. The United Kingdom and Canada joined the United States in voicing their disapproval, which quickly led to other countries, such as India, voicing their grave misgivings."

   So, as things stand now, "Thanks to the refusal of the U.S. and other major players to sign it, the treaty lacks ‘teeth’ and imposes no binding legal requirements." That was close. But they’ll be back.

==========================

   In other areas, we find that our educational system continues to falter in a number of different ways. Professor Caleb Rossiter writes in The Wall Street Journal about how well some of the school systems in America have learned how to cheat. "Kids who fail their courses go to phony Credit Recovery classes. No wonder so many high-school graduates are at or near a fifth-grade level."

   And, as E.D. Hirsch Jr. (a former professor) writes in that same publication, "For all the talk about income inequality in the United States, there is too little recognition of education’s role in the problem. Yet it is no coincidence that, as economist John Bishop has shown, the middle class’s economic woes followed a decline in 12th-grade verbal scores, which fell sharply between 1962 and 1980 — and, as the latest news confirms, have remained flat ever since.

   The federal government reported this month that students’ vocabulary scores on the National Assessment of Educational Progress have seen no significant change since 2009. On average, students don’t know the words they need to flourish as learners, earners or citizens." Mr. Hirsch suggests, "A good first step to fight income inequality; Do a better job of teaching kids to read." But of course there’s not much time for things like that when they are so busy filling the "politically correct" agenda.

   And of course there are also such problems as the rejection of some really good possible solutions. A good example detailed by Stephanie Banchero and Jack Nicas in the WSJ would be: "A Louisiana district court judge ruled that the state’s school-voucher program violates the Louisiana constitution, dealing a blow to one of the nation’s most expansive efforts to let students attend private schools at taxpayer expense."

   And then we hear of Melissa Korn and Rachel Louise Ensign’s report in the same paper that tells us that some of our schools are guilty of intentionally inviting far more student applications than they could ever accept, just so they can use their denials to boost their schools’ ratings. What a cruel joke that is.

   Of course there are many other things to occupy their time as well — things other than actually taking the time to properly educate the students. As WND reports, "A journalist student at State University of New York College at Oswego was threatened with suspension from the school for sending emails that asked questions for a writing project." He was asking questions that might reveal any problems at the College. We can’t have that, now can we? That would be practicing genuine journalism — a real no, no in today’s America, unless it serves the appropriate agenda.

   And then we keep hearing stories about things like this: "A teacher at Oakland’s Markham Elementary School has been suspended indefinitely after school officials said a pair of second-graders performed sex acts on each other in class — with the teacher present."

   And also, "In one case, several students apparently took off their clothes and were naked in the classroom. In the second incident, a boy and girl reportedly engaged in oral sex in front of their classmates. Troy Flint [District Spokesman] indicated that the suspended teacher, whose name was not released by the school district, was present for both of the incidents."

   And with all of this going on, there still remains a very serious need for some real education, on all levels. We not only have a serious shortage of various technical and mechanical skills, we even have a growing doctor shortage and the airlines of America are facing a shortage of pilots. We need new, young adults coming out of school with some serious skills that are just not available anywhere close to the numbers needed.

   It’s an inexcusable mess. That’s the only way to put it.

==========================

   In another area — the area involved with the form and performance of our legal system — we find yet another sad example of our national decline. With regard to our national legal system, it is a convolution that has been falling apart for years. And now, with a clearly lawless Justice Department, the decline is even more pronounced.

   We have gone backwards to the point where the whole business has become ever more of a mess and utterly confusing, even to those who are supposed to be the experts, the lawyers, judges and the law professors. There are a few things that are crystal clear, however. Consider it to be a system where it is more a matter of how much justice you can afford. And consider it to be a system that is most often severely influenced by political ideology. Of course there are its advocates who will be quick to tell you it isn’t so. But the serious impact upon so many thousands who have and are experiencing the detrimental effects of its failures — that will tell you otherwise.

   And with the skyrocketing fees, and the suits that are threatened and established as a financial harassment against those who cannot afford such suits, just to shut them up, and the convolutions of the "game" that is played in so many criminal courts that make the finding of truth an impossible task, and the unpunished bad behavior and outright dishonesty that is practiced by so many lawyers with impunity, and with all of the other nightmares — with all of this and so much more, what can be done?

   A serious revamping of the entire system, that’s what can be done. However, it is a monopoly that the lawyers and most of the judges don’t want touched, and they have clout. And, the largest occupational representation in Congress is the legal profession. They are running things, more than you would ever imagine. Just try to change that and see what happens, or more appropriately, see what doesn’t happen.

   As I am sure you realize, the breakdown has a most serious effect on the most important document in our nation — our Constitution. When law and order begins to crumble, our primary founding document is the first victim. But now it seems to have gone even further than that.

   As released by CNS News: News:"Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga) says, ‘...corporations control the patterns of thinking’ in the United states and the Bill of Rights to the Constitution should be amended so that the government is given the power to restrict freedom of speech."

   And even further, as reported by PoliticalOutcast.com, "Michael Seidman wrote an op-ed in the New York Times with the headline, ‘Let’s Give Up on the Constitution.’ His article makes the ridiculous claim that the reason our country and government are in such disarray is not because our elected leaders completely ignore the Constitution, but precisely because they’ve been abiding by it for so long. No, he’s not joking, and as for his mental status, one can only imagine. He stated that our problems are rooted in ‘our insistence on obedience to the Constitution, with all its archaic, idiosyncratic and downright evil provisions.’ "

   Kind of strange, wouldn’t you say? Not only for suggesting such a casting aside, but also because he evidently doesn’t seem to realize how little we actually work within its framework at this time. Take, for instance, the recent news story from Freedom Outpost: "We’ve been trying to keep you aware of what has been taking place with the talks concerning the 2013 version of the National Defense Authorization Act.

   In addition to things like that, there are endless numbers of instances where local government entities all over the nation are adding their force of power into the mix. Just one example, as brought out by Hannah Karp in The Wall Street Journal: "The L.A. City Council last December passed a new ordinance that effectively banned anyone but local artists from engaging in commercial activity on the boardwalk’s beach-facing side. Ordinance violators are subject to fines and repeat offenders can end up in jail." With things like this, and so many other things of equal concern, happening everywhere, I would ask you this: Can you tell me what country you are living in?

==========================

   A concluding thought for this year is this:  In our founding documentation it was exclaimed that this was to be a nation founded in life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

   It was not "life" that could be so easily concluded at the beginning in the womb nor conclude in one’s latter days by a rationing committee. It was not an endlessly growing mountain of restrictions and controls on our precious "liberties." It was also not any sort of guarantee of "happiness," only for its pursuit.

   Do we no longer remember these things? Is this the way it ends? Is this what you will accept? Is that all there is?

   And so it is that the year ends and perhaps also an era. Let future generations learn from this. Let them not continue to make the same mistakes over and over again, as humankind is so inclined to do.

   Let there be some lasting value in what we have said here. Let it not be all in vain.

==========================

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT:

   This is the last in this very long and arduous documentation of our time. This writer has devoted almost all of his money and time for many years, trying to make a difference, trying to reach the minds and hearts of the people. I have written books, spoken to groups and individuals, and talked on radio stations in various parts of our land. I have sent out endless releases, written endless numbers of essays. I have given much of my life to this effort.

   I have done all of this and so much more. But none of the liberal media would pay the slightest bit of attention and most conservative media did not do much better. And most folks who did contact me said how much they appreciate what I was doing, but were quick to also say they were not really able to do anything. They were just glad that I was willing to sacrifice just about everything I had for them.

   In other words, I found that they were willing to read what I wrote, in one form or another, and to offer spiritual support, in growing numbers. But the numbers of those who stepped forward to dedicate their time and fortunes to the effort remained infinitesimal.

   And now we come to the enormously corrupted voting process and the resulting re-election of Obama. And now I have had to come to the realization that I must now do what I can to survive, financially, in what has become a truly terrible time for me and for so many others.

   I will still offer my latest book, "The Presidential Chronicles" for sale in the general marketplace (for whatever good that will do) and I will continue to write essays now and again on what I trust are subjects and concerns of some value. But my days of major effort are over.

   I want to survive. So, I have affiliated myself with a very special new international gold project that seems to be able to offer a small one-gram bar of gold as an instrument of trade. Since paper money in today’s world is so dangerously risky, this may prove to be the beginning of a serious answer to a very serious problem.

   The project has spread to over 70 nations and it is now here in America. I have become a part of this. It is my hope that it will not only rescue my financial position, but that it will also be of significant value to our nation and our people.

   And so, this is the end of these "Concerns" pages, but hopefully not the end of the nation these pages were dedicated to. I know that most of you will understand what has happened and why I must do what I can to survive. It is also my hope that you all will also manage to survive in these trying times. I offer you my heart-felt concerns, without further pages herein and with a degree of sadness and regret, but with the hope that somehow we will manage to make it through okay and that, somehow we will manage to have a true American renaissance. Good-bye my friends, and God bless you all.

JonathanWest2000@hotmail.com