Crashing Home Prices: The Obama ‘Stimulus’ has Failed

April 26, 2011, Fairfax, VA—Americans for Limited Government President Bill Wilson today issued the following statement on the S&P/Case Shiller housing price index showing another 1.1 percent decline in home values for the month of February:

“The Obama ‘stimulus’ has failed to achieve its always unrealistic and yet essential goal of propping up home values closer to their bubble highs. Housing prices are still deflating to more realistic levels. The irony is that we should have just let prices hit the bottom without intervention in the first place, and we would already be in recovery. Now, Obama and Bernanke have prolonged the recession in housing by avoiding this necessary correction. They wanted a soft landing and, well, they got one. Good job.

“We have wasted more than $2 trillion on a lie. The American people were sold the bailouts on the basis that they were saving the value of their homes, and what they are learning now is the only effect of propping up failed institutions was to reward those who failed so remarkably. The proper course of action was always to allow a market-based correction to run its course, even if that meant allowing financial institutions that bet poorly on housing to fail.

“Now we are in a double-dip recession in housing, which Obama promised would be avoided if all his policies were implemented, which they were. Obama got everything he wanted, and he has failed. Unemployment remains high, home values continue to slowly contract, and the so-called ‘recovery’ is nowhere to be found. America needs new leadership, and less government ‘assistance’ that only makes the problems it claims to address even worse.”

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Is China Preparing to Dump its $1 Trillion of Treasuries?

By Bill Wilson

China may be preparing to cut its foreign exchange reserves by about two-thirds, down to about $1 trillion from its current $3.04 trillion level, according to Chinese news service Xinhua.

Why? China simply has too much money, according to Zhou Xiaochuan, the head of the People’s Bank of China. “Foreign-exchange reserves have exceeded the reasonable level that our country actually needs,” he recently said.

Zhou noted that China’s stockpiling cash is “feeding inflation and becoming difficult to manage”. To be certain, China is suffering from an inflation problem, already up over 5 percent, not to mention a tremendous real estate bubble that threatens its very financial system. It needs to figure out a way to restore price stability.
So, Zhou wants to diversify the country’s assets of foreign exchange holdings, an obvious target.

Get full story here.

The IMF Says China Is Overtaking The U.S. And Obama Talks Gas Prices In ‘The Week Ahead’

Video by Frank McCaffrey

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Gulf Coast Remains ‘The Aorta of the U.S.’ Despite BP Disaster But Obama Administration Needs to Go, Industry Leader Says

By Kevin Mooney
British Petroleum is anxious to start drilling at 10 existing development and production wells in the Gulf of Mexico before the end of the summer. However, officials with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, have told members of the press that no new permit has been issued and environmental organizations have expressed opposition.

Even before the explosion last year the Deepwater Horizon oil rig, BP had a checkered safety record that included accidents in Texas and Alaska. But, its public relations overtures to the now discredited concept of man-made global warming distracted from this long history of transgressions. It is worth recalling that many of the same green groups that now condemn the company provided it with political cover and legitimacy in the news media. This would include the Sierra Club, which has joined with a Justice Department lawsuit filed last December in the District of Court of New Orleans, that would impose fines under the Clean Water Act.

While the antipathy toward BP is understandable, residents and industry officials who depend upon the energy industry in the Gulf Coast are still living with the economic fallout from the spill. Don Briggs, president of the Louisiana Oil and Gas Association (LOGA), commented on the Obama Administration's policy agenda during a luncheon in New Orleans.
Get full story here.

-Nicolas Cage may be investigated for child abuse.

Reportedly, Nicolas Cage caused injury to his 5 year old son on April 15 while in a drunken state. Sources say there may be an investigation for child abuse due to the injury.

Cage’s wife, Alice Kim, said on the police report that she and Cage were arguing “due to his intoxicated state”and Cage “fell while holding their son. The fall caused the 5 year old to suffer minor abrasions to his left knee.”

A man who witnessed the incident said he saw “Mr. Cage pull the male child to the ground by his hand.”
The report says that police wanted to interview Kal-El, but that Kim did not let them. According to the report, a child abuse detective was notified. The detective reportedly reported that no further investigation was necessary but that Child Protective Services may be contacted.

The Oscar winner reportedly got “very drunk” in New Orleans that night and a taxi driver witnessed the couple having words and saw Cage push his wife. The driver called the police. Kim denied the violence took place and did not press charges and said “her husband was not attempting to injure her, but instead he was attempting to get her to follow him.”

When the officers showed up, Cage taunted them into arresting him. He refused to go home quietly and said, “Why don’t you just arrest me?” The Oscar winner was cuffed and taken in. Bond of $11,000 was posted by Dog the Bounty Hunter.

Is The Threat Of A Nuclear Strike One Of The Reasons Why Osama Bin Laden Has Not Been Captured?

The Guantánamo Bay files contain new claims about Osama bin Laden's escape from Tora Bora, which is regarded as one of the early key lapses by foreign forces in the Afghan war. Photograph: AFP/Getty Images

Why Was Osama Bin Laden Not Captured? -- IBTimes

Wikileaks has unravelled some of the documents which reveal the truth behind inaction than action by the United States in Afghanistan in the last one decade.

It was long wished that the U.S. army would one day nail down the most wanted terrorist Osama bin-Laden and bring him to Guantanamo Bay detention center. But the latest string of leaks reveal that al Qaeda had warned to set off a “nuclear hellstorm” if Osama bin Laden is ever captured or killed.

Read more ....

Posted by War News Updates Editor

Remember the mom who drove her car into the lake with her children? Even the funeral for the 3 kids turns into a big fight!

Hudson tragedy: Everyone loses as family feud turns sad, solemn funeral into raucous shouting match
Jean Pierre (2nd from left), dad of kids who died when their mom, Lashanda Armstrong, drove their car into the Hudson, and Datrice Armstrong (3rd from left), Lashanda's mother, leave the funeral home.

You would think that having to eulogize a 5-year-old, a 2-year-old and a baby who didn't make it to her first birthday is the most terrible thing in the world.

You would be wrong.

An even more terrible thing is allowing a family feud - however understandable - to turn a sad, solemn funeral into a raucous shouting match in which everyone loses.

That's what happened at the funeral of Landon, Lance and Lainaina Pierre, who died with their 25-year-old mother, Lashanda Armstrong, when she drove them all into the Hudson in a suicide plunge on April 12.

Fury erupted after the children's father, Jean Pierre, gave police a list of 80 people who should be allowed into the service at the Alphonso E. Brown Funeral Home in Spring Valley, Rockland County.

Only 18 of the invited mourners were members of Armstrong's family.

"Enough is enough!" shouted Gwendolen Green, 48, a nurse and Armstrong cousin whose son was blocked from entering.

"This side of the family matters, too! You know it's wrong!"

Green objected to the display of grief shown by Pierre, who had quarreled with Armstrong on the night of the tragedy over his philandering and an order of protection she'd gotten against him.

"He's carrying on so [much] in there, screaming and hollering. The guilt is filling him up," said Green, who wore photo-buttons of the children.

"Treat the mother right! Don't abuse! Pay child support! You're supposed to take care of people when they're alive!"


At the Gethsemene Cemetery in nearby Congers, relatives from both sides of the family wailed loudly in unison as the three tiny white coffins were lowered into the ground, fitting together into one burial plot.

They were supposed to be buried with their mother in another cemetery last Thursday, but Pierre, 26, stopped that plan at the last minute, decreeing they should not be buried with the woman who killed them.

Armstrong's 10-year-old son, Lashaun Armstrong, who escaped the vehicle by swimming into the frigid waters, attended his mother's funeral. He stayed home with an aunt yesterday, relatives said, to spare him more pain.

As gravediggers from the Nugent Bros. Co. finished their work, one paused to tenderly arrange three bouquets of white lilies and tiny blue forget-me-nots atop the grave, right next to the headstone of Cornelius Mahoney, who died at the age of 95.

Along with the sadness and anger one question loomed: How could a mother kill her own children?

How could she do it, no matter how much she wanted to punish their father for cheating on her?

Posted by Det. Shaved Longcock

President 2012: Haley Barbour is OUT – Is Mitch Daniels IN?

Governor Haley and Marsha Barbour – Governor Mitch and Cheri Daniels

Republican Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has withdrawn from an exploratory campaign for the Presidency. His statement is here.

“I will not be a candidate for president next year. This has been a difficult, personal decision, and I am very grateful to my family for their total support of my going forward, had that been what I decided. 

“Hundreds of people have encouraged me to run and offered both to give and raise money for a presidential campaign.  Many volunteers have organized events in support of my pursuing the race.  Some have dedicated virtually full time to setting up preliminary organizations in critical, early states and to helping plan what has been several months of intensive activity.
“I greatly appreciate each and every one of them and all their outstanding efforts.  If I have disappointed any of them in this decision, I sincerely regret it.

“A candidate for president today is embracing a ten-year commitment to an all-consuming effort, to the virtual exclusion of all else.  His (or her) supporters expect and deserve no less than absolute fire in the belly from their candidate.  I cannot offer that with certainty, and total certainty is required.

“This decision means I will continue my job as Governor of Mississippi, my role in the Republican Governors Association and my efforts to elect a new Republican president in 2012, as the stakes for the nation require that effort to be successful.”

Haley Barbour has not been polling particularly well and as a Republican operative of the highest order can read the handwriting on the wall. But, now does this open the path for Barbour’s good personal friend Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels to run?

Daniels has kept his decision close to the vest and will not announce one way or another until the Indiana Legislative session is over. The session ends this Friday. And, as Daniels has said, “It’s time to cut bait.”
So, is this a convenient withdrawal?
Stay tuned…..

Posted by: Flap

Video: UK's Hague slams Syria over protest crackdown euronews

Gay McGreevey Denied Priesthood For Being "Jackass"

Former Governor, Gay American, and New Jersey Corruptacrat has beeen denied the priesthood by the Episcopalians because, and I quote, he is a "jackass."

Do I hear an amen?

No longer governor of New Jersey, Jim McGreevey, 53, thought he could become a priest. However, he can’t — at least not yet. The Episcopal Church has denied McGreevey his bid to join the priesthood.

McGreevey drew national attention in August 2004 when he abruptly announced his plans to resign in November 2004. He told the world “I am a gay American” as he stood on stage with his ex-wife Dina. After that, their sensational divorce proceedings played out publicly.
...
Another source said that McGreevey was rejected not for being gay, but for being a “jackass” in his divorce proceedings, which damaged his reputation. They feared that McGreevey was possibly using the clergy as a tool to rebuild his tarnished image rather than focus on God. Both McGreevey and Newark Diocese’s Bishop Mark Beck declined to comment.

Being denied priesthood in the Episcopalian Church is humiliating. I mean, this lady is in charge of the Episcopalian Church.

I mean how lame do you have to be turned down by the organization headed by the lady in the clown outfit? I mean even people who were turned down for entrance into clown college look down on McGreevey.

How lame? This lame.
Maybe Jefferts Schori didn't think he was man enough. Who are we to argue?

Posted by Patrick Archbold

"Christian" President Fails to Recognize Easter; [Update: God Apparently Not Happy About This]

I don't believe Barrack Obama is a Muslim. I also don't believe he's a Christian:

President Obama failed to release a statement or a proclamation recognizing the national observance of Easter Sunday, Christianity's most sacred holiday.
By comparison, the White House has released statements recognizing the observance of major Muslim holidays and released statements in 2010 on Ramadan, Eid-ul-Fitr, Hajj, and Eid-ul-Adha.

The White House also failed to release a statement marking Good Friday. However, they did release an eight-paragraph statement heralding Earth Day. Likewise, the president's weekend address mentioned neither Good Friday or Easter.

Now, he did "celebrate" Easter by taking the family to a church, but I don't think church going every once in awhile qualifies one as a Christian. Especially when church attendance is done for purely political reasons.


Barrack Obama has faith in one thing: the overwhelming awesomeness of Barrack Obama.
Thanks to Kenny.

UPDATE: Apparently either JHVH or Zeus is pretty pissed about this.


Source: Easter storm lightning hits White House
UPDATE: Double post alert! Oops. Ah, oh well. Worse things have happened around here. Pssst, Stable Hand .... FIRED!

By Rusty Shackleford, Ph.D.

Another Depressing Fact

Caption: The short form of Barack Obama's birth certificate, which is valid proof of birth everywhere except in the minds of a few froth-mouthed idiots.

Image credit: click here for full size

Writing this almost two years ago:

The sad thing about conspiracy theories is that once they get started, they never really die. The 9/11 "Truthers" are a case in point. The evidence that they were wrong has been presented so many times, in so many ways, that you'd have to be deliberately ignoring it not to see it. No doubt, there are still people who believe that the Clintons had Vince Foster killed.

Now, we have a new conspiracy theory for a new age. The adherents of this theory believe that Barack Obama isn't a natural born U.S. citizen, and therefore not qualified to be President.

Another Wacko Conspiracy Theory Is Born

And yet, as Taylor Marsh notes, we now have at least one "serious" Presidential candidate who says he thinks that Barack Obama isn't a natural-born American citizen. This is beyond absurd.

Let me quote from the individual whose job it was to check the validity of birth records in Hawaii, back in 2008:

There have been numerous requests for Sen. Barack Hussein Obama’s official birth certificate. State law (Hawai‘i Revised Statutes §338-18) prohibits the release of a certified birth certificate to persons who do not have a tangible interest in the vital record.

Therefore, I as Director of Health for the State of Hawai‘i, along with the Registrar of Vital Statistics who has statutory authority to oversee and maintain these type of vital records, have personally seen and verified that the Hawai‘i State Department of Health has Sen. Obama’s original birth certificate on record in accordance with state policies and procedures.

Statement By Dr. Chiyome Fukino

For convenience's sake, I added the link to the law the document refers to.

As the non-partisan organization Fact Check pointed out back in 2008:

We beg to differ. FactCheck.org staffers have now seen, touched, examined and photographed the original birth certificate. We conclude that it meets all of the requirements from the State Department for proving U.S. citizenship. Claims that the document lacks a raised seal or a signature are false. We have posted high-resolution photographs of the document as "supporting documents" to this article. Our conclusion: Obama was born in the U.S.A. just as he has always said.

Born In The U.S.A.

That link has photos taken by Fact Check's reporters of the original birth certificate.

Politifact also looked into the allegations. Here is their conclusion, also from 2008:

At PolitiFact.com, we're all about original sources. We don't take anyone at their word or take the reporting of other media organizations as proof. We go to the heart of the story, the source of the truth — original, corroborating documents.

When the official documents were questioned, we went looking for more answers. We circled back to the Department of Health, had a newsroom colleague bring in her own Hawaii birth certificate to see if it looks the same (it's identical). But every answer triggered more questions.

And soon enough, after going to every length possible to confirm the birth certificate's authenticity, you start asking, what is reasonable here?

Because if this document is forged, then they all are.

Obama's birth certificate: Final chapter

The pathetic excuse that Obama didn't publish the long form of his birth certificate is some of the most feeble grasping for straws that I've witnessed in American political discourse. No one who isn't convinced by the evidence produced so far is going to be convinced if that form ever makes it into the public record. As Fact Check notes:

The certificate has all the elements the State Department requires for proving citizenship to obtain a U.S. passport: "your full name, the full name of your parent(s), date and place of birth, sex, date the birth record was filed, and the seal or other certification of the official custodian of such records." The names, date and place of birth, and filing date are all evident on the scanned version, and you can see the seal above.

Born In The U.S.A.

In sum, the short form indicates that someone in officialdom has checked the long form, and it's as legitimate as any form can be in a U.S. government bureaucracy.

As National Public Radio points out, there was plenty of corroborating evidence for his birth in the local newspapers:

FactCheck.org and Politifact and a number of independent fact checking groups have also pointed out that there are two contemporaneous birth announcements in newspapers, The Honolulu Advertiser and The Honolulu Star-Bulletin, announcing the birth of Barack Obama on August 4th, 1961.

What Impact Do 'Birthers' Have On GOP's 2012 Field?

Which, as far as anyone who is in the least bit sane is concerned, is enough. I'm as skeptical as the next guy, but there comes a point where skepticism becomes obstinacy, and that's where these people are now. Note how often the words "in 2008" and "in 2009" come up just in this short article. This matter was settled long ago.

I wish Barack Obama weren't the President. The man is worse than useless. If you want a list of reasons, check this list, or just check the Barack Obama keyword here, and have at it. But the man was born in the United States, and he was elected President by a wide margin. That makes him at least as qualified for the office as his predecessor, whose legitimacy seems to be beyond question to nearly all of the people who don't want to believe Obama belongs in the White House.

It's absolutely depressing to realize that I will probably have reason to write about this subject two years from now, because people refuse to listen no matter how obvious it is that I'm telling the truth. The same fools will believe the same nonsense two years from now, just as people keep believing that George W. Bush knocked down the World Trade Center, and that progressives will get what they want some day by supporting Democrats hard enough.

The human ability to ignore basic facts would be absolutely awe-inspiring if it weren't so damn depressing.
Posted by Cujo359