Sitting in a combination Gulf Gas Station/Dunkin Donuts location this morning, having coffee and a bagel, looked through the window at cars gassing up.
Then I noticed the ads of the windows.
Budweiser was $9.99 a 12-pack, then I saw that Keystone $6.69 for a 12-pack.

This got me to thinking:

The price of gasoline is going up, and California is proposing a 37 cent per gallon Tax on Gas.

The price of a pack of cigarettes here in New York is $6.00 per pack--and up.


What this brought to my mind is that the Soviet Union kept the price of booze low.
Though they taxed everything else out of reach, they left the escape from misery at a low ptrice.

Kinda like where Obama is sending us to

We been here before 2

http://primebuzz.kcstar.com/?q=node/18916

Gerald Walpin

McCaskill questions Obama team over firing of IG
UPDATE: (3:10 p.m.) McCaskill just released a statement (below) saying the Obama administration is now in "full compliance" with the law.

****

Missour
Sen. Claire McCaskilli Sen. Claire McCaskill, known for her close ties to President Obama, criticized his administration Tuesday because it "failed to follow the proper procedure" in notifying Congress about removing an inspector general.

The inspector general in question is Ge
Gerald Walpinrald Walpin who watches over AmeriCorps and other programs in the Corporation for National and Community Service.

McCaskill wrote a a law that requires the president to give Congress 30 days advance notice of an IG’s dismissal along with cause for the termination.

Said McCaskill on Tuesday:

"The White House has failed to follow the proper procedure in notifying Congress as to the removal of the Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service. The legislation which was passed last year requires that the president give a reason for the removal.

"‘Loss of confidence’ is not a sufficient reason. I’m hopeful the White House will provide a more substantive rationale, in writing, as quickly as possible,” McCaskill said.

She was one of several senators to who expressed concerns over Walpin's dismissal.

Later Tuesday, the administration said it removed Walpin in part because he was “confused” and “disoriented” at a meeting last month.

In a letter to Congress Tuesday night, Obama ethics counsel Norm Eisen said this:

"Mr. Walpin was removed after a review was unanimously requested by the bi-partisan Board of the Corporation. The Board’s action was precipitated by a May 20, 2009, Board meeting at which Mr. Walpin was confused, disoriented, unable to answer questions and exhibited other behavior that led the Board to question his capacity to serve.

"We further learned that Mr. Walpin had been absent from the Corporation’s headquarters, insisting upon working from his home in New York over the objections of the Corporation’s Board; that he had exhibited a lack of candor in providing material information to decision makers; and that he had engaged in other troubling and inappropriate conduct,” Eisen wrote.

The letter also said a complaint had been filed against Walpin by the acting U.S. Attorney in Sacramento accusing Walpin of failing to disclose evidence in an investigation.

"Mr. Walpin had become unduly disruptive to agency operations, impairing his effectiveness and, for the reasons stated above, losing the confidence of the Board and the agency. It was for these reasons that Mr. Walpin was removed,” Eisen wrote.

Reached at his home in New York Tuesday night, Walpin called the allegations in the Eisen letter "absolutely amazing.

"Anybody who’s heard me speaking more than I’m used to speaking on radio and TV in recent days, obviously under great pressure from what happened would clearly know that I know what I’m saying and what I’m doing and I’m not incoherent," Walpin told POLITICO.

"There’s nothing confusing about malfeasance and there’s nothing confusing about what appears to be the fact that they terminated me because I was doing my job because the White House wanted to protect people who proclaim they are friends of the White House."

That may be a reference to his investigation of Kevin Johnson, a former Phoenix Suns star guard in the NBA who also is a prominent Obama supporter. Johnson runs a non-profit education group.

A second statement from McCaskill is expected today.

MCCASKILL'S STATEMENT:

McCaskill expressed disappointment that the White House initially failed to follow proper procedure by not giving the reasons for Walpin’s removal.

However, the additional information provided late Tuesday in a letter to the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee put the White House in full compliance with the notice requirement in the law.

The law was authored by McCaskill and requires the president to give Congress 30 days advance notice of an IG’s dismissal, along with reasons for the termination.

“Last night, in response to my request for adequate information on the firing of Inspector General for the Corporation for National and Community Service Gerald Walpin, the White House submitted a letter to Senators Lieberman and Collins that now puts the White House in full compliance with the notice requirement in the law.

"The next step for Congress is to use the 30 days provided by the notice to seek further information and undertake any further review that might be necessary. The reasons given in the most recent White House letter are substantial and the decision to remove Walpin appears well founded.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travelgate

White House travel office controversy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Travelgate)

The White House travel office controversy, often referred to as Travelgate, was the first major scandal of the Clinton administration. It began in May 1993, when seven longtime employees of the White House Travel Office were fired, after a brief investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The White House said the action was due to financial improprieties in the office operation. Critics said the actions were done to allow friends of the Clintons to take over the travel business and that the involvement of the FBI was unwarranted. Heavy media attention forced the White House to reinstate most of the employees in other jobs and remove the Clinton associates from the travel role.

Investigations by the FBI and the Department of Justice, the White House itself, the General Accounting Office, the House Government Reform and Oversight Committee, and the Whitewater Independent Counsel all took place over the subsequent years. Travel Office Director Billy Dale was charged with embezzlement but found not guilty at trial in 1995. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton gradually came under scrutiny for allegedly having played a central role in the firings and making false statements about her role in it.

In 1998 Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr exonerated President Bill Clinton of any involvement in the matter. In 2000 Independent Counsel Robert Ray issued his final report on Travelgate, stating that Hillary Clinton had made factually false statements but saying there was insufficient evidence to prosecute her.

Hope and Change--Not what Obama had in mind

The photo above is Neda. Sorry, but I do not know if that is her first or last name.

She was killed day before yesterday in Tehran, Iran. She was simply observing people protesting when a Basij (Thugs, comparable to Gestapo and ACORN) shot her for being there.

She was 16.

The rabid Islamic Secret Police officer who shot her probably thought she was just another protestor. Was he ever wrong!

Neda has become the ultimate martyr for this cause. From what I am getting from Twitter and other sources, the people of Iran are tired of being crapped on.
They are are tired of the religion of Violence being shoved down their throat, and facing arrest, prison, beatings, torture, and even death for possibly unintentionally crossing some religious leader who only sits on his fat ass and utters "Death to Israel and Death to America"

There was a bogus election which was the spark that set off this firestorm. The Supreme Leader thought that letting people "vote" would mollify some of their resentment. Iranians are not stupid. They figured out real quick that the religious leaders just had the votes taken to a trash dump, and none were ever counted.

So, they had protests, and out come the thugs-- burning, gassing, beating, and shooting the protestors. Which only pissed them off more

Coming in Iran and Elsewhere

Written by Dr. Jack Wheeler
To The Point (TTP) News
Friday, 19 June 2009

Tomorrow's the day, folks. Crunch time in Tehran. You know what happened today: head mullah Ali Khamenei delivered the Friday sermon everyone was waiting for, and he didn't give a fig for freedom.

He insisted the June 12 elections were fair and not fraudulent, ordered the protestors to stop demonstrating in any way, and obey their master Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Any opposition rallies are banned, he said, and any attempt to hold one will be put down with armed force. His speech was as hard-line as it could possibly have been.

It is 10pm Friday evening in Tehran as I am writing this, and protestors have begun shouting Allahu akbar - their cry of protest - from the rooftops. Their cell calls, emails, and twitters give every indication that they plan to hold enormous rallies tomorrow in straight defiance of Khamenei and the mullah regime.

There will be blood tomorrow. But whose?

The Army has so far refused to crack down on the protestors - and word is they will continue to refuse tomorrow. The feared Pasdaran or Revolutionary Guard (IRG) is evidently so split that the mullahs can't rely on them. There is even word that soldiers and IRG will turn on the regime's basiji militia thugs who have been doing the beatings and killings so far, and defend the protestors.

But nobody knows. Everyone's scared, scared they might die or suffer horrible brutality tomorrow. Yet they say they are going through with it. They have heard the words of Patrick Henry - Give me liberty or give me death - and taken them to heart.

The Iranian people have suffered so much ghastly tyranny for 30 years. This is their chance. Our prayers should be with them tomorrow.

***************************************************************************
That the democracy protestors in Iran are proceeding without the slightest regard to what America's Coward-in-chief thinks shows how irrelevant he is becoming to the world.

Another demonstration was provided this week by the brilliant speech by Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu on Sunday (6/14). It was a total middle finger salute to Zero, yet performed in such an elegantly accommodating way that all Zero could do was thank Bibi for agreeing with him.

Zero's demand is to split Israel in half with the "two-state solution." Bibi said, okay, Palestinian independence, two states, no problem. All the P's have to do is recognize Israel as a legitimate Jewish country, and absorb their own people - currently in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, and Jordan where they've been for 60 years. Forget us absorbing them here in Israel.

And boom - just like that, the debate is over and Zero shuts up. Arabs seethe and fume, Mubarak petulantly says Egypt will never recognize a "Jewish" state, but they do nothing either. Noting Zero's sudden silence - and not just over the Palestinians but over the mullahs in Iran whom they hate and fear - the Arabs are now just as contemptuously dismissive of him as... Bibi.

*************************************************************************
This week with his usual acuity, Jack Kelly wrote about The Abject Failure of Obama's Foreign Policy. The sequel is unfolding before our eyes: The Abject Failure of Zero's Domestic Policy.


How about this for an inspiring above-the-fold front page headline in this morning's Washington Post? Obama Initiatives Hit Speed Bumps on Capitol Hill

Every chief of staff I know for Republican senators tells me Waxman's cap-and-trade climate bill - a Zero legislative centerpiece - is flaming out. It's so bad Dems are being advised to stop even using the terms "global warming," "cap-and-trade," and "green jobs." Watch for their new linguistic con, "clean energy."

The CBO (Congressional Budget Office) just scored the ObamaCare health bill as adding $1.6 trillion to the deficit while leaving tens of millions still uninsured. As a result, "health care reform is on life support," says Democrat senator Jim Cooper (TN).

And Zero's amazing power grab for the Fed to seize control over a widening swath of US business ran into a buzzsaw yesterday (6/18) when both Dem and Pub senators on the Banking Committee raked Tiny Tim Geithner over searing coals.

This means that every one of Zero's top legislative priorities - even with full Dem control of the House and Senate - now stands an excellent chance of crashing and burning.

We should all drink to that. Could I suggest an under $10 favorite red? It's Castaño, a Monastrell from Yecla, Spain. 90 points from Wine Advocate.

***
A month ago we talked about the coming economic train wreck in China. This week, after long-time bragging by Beijing that the PRC would quickly rebound out of recession and ascend back up to 8% growth in 2009, the Chicom State Council admits that China's economy faces "long term difficulties."

Say goodbye to 8%, warns Chicom Vice Premier Li Keqiang. "It's impossible for China to have a V-shaped recovery," states government banking specialist Liu Xin.

Now the fellow who accurately predicted to the day (September 5, 2008) the US equity market meltdown, Albert Edwards of Societe Generale in Paris, in a thoroughly researched report, is warning of a "bubble of belief" in China that is about to pop.

Back in 1997, Edwards also predicted the popping of the Asian Bubble. Now, he is saying that "China is the global Achilles Heel."

"I believe we will look back on the Chinese economic miracle as the sickest joke yet played on investors," he concludes, citing collapsing earnings for most of China's major industrial companies. Consider reading the whole report, linked above.

Yep, just like we said, China, like Zero's economy, is a sucker's train wreck.

Oh, that means the smart money is on oil failing to $50 a barrel by September 1st.

***
The HFR raises a full glass of Castaño to all TTPers who are lucky enough to be Dads.

It is the most wonderful and rewarding thing in the world for a man to be a father. I have been blest with two of the most awesome boys a father could ask for. Of all that I have ever been able to do in my life, being their Dad is the best thing I've ever done. Nothing comes close.

So Happy Father's Day this Sunday!

I'm not going to New York

We ARE planning to go to our grand-son's graduation in New York State. We WERE planning to see New York City, which is about 100 miles from the town where our grandchildren live.

First, this email arrives this morning from a VERY credible source:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Tom is a cameraman/journalist for a TV station in West Palm Beach, FL.

To everyone,

I was working with a reporter yesterday who mentioned that he has a friend who is a Hematologist and a guy considered to be one of the top people in his field. This doctor basically told that he had to report to Washington, D.C. immediately, to help with his expertise in case of a nuke attack on a U.S. city.

I have no idea whether this is to prepare for something that may happen, or something that the government knows about, but isn't telling anyone. We're not doing a story on it because the reporter isn't telling anyone and this is supposed to be secret. Nobody swore me to secrecy.

Anyway, I gave those on my email list the inside scoop on the Anthrax attack in Boca Raton, Fl. several years ago and all of the terrorist stuff going on in the Palm Beach County and Ft. Lauderdale areas. I was at Mohammad Atta's apartment the day after 9/11 (head terrorist) and I was at the home of the first Anthrax attack victim and shot an interview with the doctor who diagnosed him the day it was announced. This is your latest scoop. Pretty wild. See, sometimes being on my email list pays off.

Tom

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Then, I go looking at news. I find:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jun/02/confidential-us-nuke-sites-disclosed-web/

'Confidential' U.S. nuke info posted on Web
By Sara A. Carter (Contact) and Eli Lake (Contact) | Tuesday, June 2, 2009

U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) mistakenly published on the Internet Tuesday a detailed 268-page dossier disclosing the addresses and specifications of hundreds of U.S. nuclear weapons-related facilities -- including reactors.

The document is a draft declaration of facilities to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the U.N. nuclear watchdog, required under agreements the United States signed in 2004. It is considered highly sensitive though technically not classified.

"It's a mistake and it should not have been released, especially not with 'safeguards/confidential' still written on it," said David Albright, a former nuclear inspector and president of the Institute for Science and International Security, a Washington think tank. But he added, "It's probably more embarrassing than dangerous." Many of the sites disclosed are civilian labs related to related to weapons research and reactors that produce fissile material. The locations of missile silos were not disclosed.

That said, Mr. Albright added, "If we had published it, all hell would break loose."

The pages of the document, which are marked "highly confidential, safeguards sensitive," appeared on the GPO Web site. An accompanying letter from President Obama dated May 5 said the United States "regards this information as 'sensitive but unclassified.'" The document was sent to the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

A anti-government secrecy expert, Steven Aftergood, praised the decision to publish the dossier. "It is significant on a few different levels," said Mr. Aftergood, who runs the project on government secrecy for the Federation of American Scientists.

"It is a rather comprehensive selection of data on hundreds of U.S. nuclear sites and activities in a single document. It is important as a reference document. It is important as an indication of U.S. engagement in the arms control process."

The United States ratified the additional protocol agreement in 2004 with certain conditions.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Then, sifting through more news I find:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Aerospace News
http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/aerospace/archives/170221.asp
Air France received bomb threat days before 447 crash
Air France received a bomb threat for a previous flight from South America to Paris just days before Air France flight 447 crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Air France flight 447 disappeared over the Atlantic on Monday en route from Rio de Janeiro to Paris. All 228 people on board are presumed to have been killed.

This report comes from ABC News:

Also today, ABC News has confirmed that Air France received a bomb threat over the phone concerning a flight from Buenos Aires, Argentina, to Paris days before Air France flight 447 disappeared over the Atlantic Ocean Sunday night.

Authorities at Buenos Aires' Ezeiza Airport delayed the May 27 flight before takeoff and conducted a 90-minute search of the threatened aircraft. Passengers were not evacuated during the search, which yielded no explosive material. After the inspection, authorities allowed the plane to take off for Paris.

Four days later, flight 447 departed from Rio de Janeiro. There was no known threat against the missing flight.

It's difficult to know how often airlines receive bomb threats, said Emily McGee, spokeswoman for the Flight Safety Foundation.

"I think that they happen periodically," she said. "Here' were not putting a whole lot of stock in it (the bomb threat) in the discussions internally."

As far as theories of what happened to flight 447, investigators had immediately dismissed terrorism on Monday but have since backtracked.

"First thing Monday morning, they were saying it was definitely not terrorism," McGee said. "They seem to be pulling back from that. It would strike me that they are keeping all the options on the table."

Also on the table: Blaming weather and blaming the computer.

InformationWeek editor at large Paul McDougall explores computer failure: "In the the Air France disaster, there's a particularly urgent need for government authorities to eye the aircraft's on-board computer system as a possible culprit."

He explains the purpose of the Air Data Inertial Reference Unit, or ADIRU, which sends data about the plane to the autopilot.

"Never has 'garbage in-garbage out' carried such dire consequences," McDougall writes. "And the fact is, wonky ADIRUs have been identified as the culprits in several recent near-catastrophes. Last year, for instance, authorities blamed the ADIRU after a Qantas Airbus 330 started porpoising wildly while at cruising altitude. There were 51 passenger injuries, ranging from broken bones to spinal damage."

On the weather front, Bloomberg News is reporting that "updrafts and lightning" may have helped "knock the airliner from the sky."

Posted by Andrea James at June 3, 2009 10:19 a.m.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

SO, folks, all this news, plus the demonstrated incompetence of the Obama Regime led me to decide:

I AM NOT GOING TO NEW YORK CITY