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Monday, June 15, 2009
Interesting Items 6/15 -
Howdy all, a few Interesting Items for your information. Enjoy -
In this issue:
1. Correction
2. IG Firing
3. Exxon
4. Miranda
5. Kott / Kohring
6. Hooks
7. Insolvent
8. Contempt
1. Correction. In last week’s edition, I did not correctly describe Alaska’s
campaign finance legislation as part of the Bob Gilliam anti-Pebble Mine
efforts. Here is the paraphrased correction: There are no legal limits on
spending for a ballot initiative. However, full disclosure is required.
Hiding funding sources is illegal, as is contributing in the name of another.
Gilliam appears to have written checks for $4 million and disclosed very
little. My thanks to an Interesting Items recipient for the correction.
2. IG Firing. The Obama administration illegally fired the Inspector General
of AmeriCorps last week for looking too closely at a large money donor to the
Obama campaign from Sacramento. The IG had been looking at how several hundred
thousands of dollars of federal grants had been handled by St. Hope Academy.
He found some significant problems with the money not being used for the things
it was supposed to be used for, and had negotiated a reimbursement of hundreds
of thousands of dollars from the Academy. The Academy is headed up by a large
dollar Obama donor. Federal law requires congress get a 30-day notification
when any administration fires an Inspector General, and Senator Charles
Grassley, who has been a strong supporter of federal IGs is fully engaged in
investigating the firing. In an article by Michelle Malkin on Friday, it
appears that Michelle Obama is also involved in its firing, not unlike
Hillary’s participation in the
firings of the WH Travel Office in 1993. The entire episode stinks to High
Heaven. Expect this to metastasize over the next several months.
3. Exxon. The Palin administration announced last Thursday that Exxon and
TransCanada had reached an agreement to pursue a joint pipeline for North Slope
natural gas. Exxon is largest holder of natural gas on the Slope, and no
project will proceed without their participation. As of Thursday, there are
now two pipeline projects underway in Alaska. One is the TransCanada – Exxon
AGIA project. The other is the BP and ConocoPhillips Denali project. I would
expect both projects to merge before too many more months pass. Natural gas
out of Alaska still has the minor problem of an actual market in the Lower 48
states, which has a number of new natural gas projects underway. We may end up
with a $30 billion pipeline built and have nobody to sell the gas to. The
Palin administration is to be congratulated for yet another step along the path
to the movement of natural gas to market.
4. Miranda. It now appears that the Obama administration has reverted to the
Clintonoid practice of treating the War on Terror like a legal action rather
than as a military one. Latest example is a report that FBI teas on the ground
in Afghanistan are reading high value detainees their Miranda rights when
captured. In essence, this confers the same legal rights to non-citizens,
outside the borders of the US, who are not fighting for any known state, not
abiding by any written or legal rules of war, the same rights to a fair trial –
and more importantly – the same rights to see both their accusers and the
evidence against them at the trial. This is the height of folly, as it further
blurs the line between citizenship and ignores the very real differences and
history of the laws of armed conflict over the last 200+ years of American
history. This is not going to help anyone, nor is it going to get any
actionable intelligence from the
detainees. Big Lizards, Thurs.
5. Kott / Kohring. Two more convicted Alaska state legislators were released
from prison last week pending a retrial. Their convictions were based upon the
(In)Justice Department’s Public Integrity Division withholding exculpatory
evidence from the defense during the discovery portion of the trial. This was
the same group that illegally tried and convicted Senator Ted Stevens last
year, gifting his senate seat to our democrat Boy Senator, Mark Begich. Both
trials were based upon testimony that used Bill Allen to entrap both
legislators in a vote for pay scandal. However, neither legislator voted in
any way different before their contact with Allen than they had before that
contact, making it difficult for many of us up here to understand exactly what
they were paid by Allen to do. The case was sent back to the trial judge for
rehearing and he ordered their immediate release. The 2010 elections will be
most interesting up here, as the
democrats have been running on all scandal, all the time for years; mostly
based on these investigations and trials. Now that both the investigations and
trials have been tainted and the convicted released, perhaps they are going to
have to run on real issues next year.
6. Hooks. Geithner’s Treasury “allowed” ten banks that were forced to take
TARP funds last fall to “repay” those loans. The bad news is that Treasury
will continue to hold warrants in the banks, allowing the feds to purchase
common stocks in the banks, essentially retaining financial ownership of the
banks at some level. Expect these warrants and the stock purchases to be used
to extort the banks to make loans on things that their business models wouldn’t
normally want them to make loans to. These are the ten largest banks and
include Capital One, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and American Express, and have
repaid $68 billion. Giethner said that he would be using the repaid monies to
“help” other businesses that are in financial difficulty – meaning that he will
use the repaid money as a slush fund to conduct further takeover of American
businesses over the coming months.
7. Insolvent. Hot Air Wednesday ran a story describing Big Labor –
specifically the SEIU and AFL-CIO as on the verge of insolvency following the
election. These dire financial straits were caused by the economic crash and
the tens of millions of dollars donated to elect democrats in the 2008
election. They need Card Check to force more people into the unions and keep
them financially viable. According to the WSJ, the AFL-CIO had liabilities of
over $90 million with assets of only $88 million. The SEIU had liabilities of
$8 million, after having spent over $67 million in lobbying and political
campaigns last year. I had often wondered how the unions, having
systematically destroyed every single industry they control were able to stay
financially viable. Like Social Security, they are simply another leftist
Ponzi scheme.
8. Contempt. Obama’s WH released a photo of The One on the phone with Israeli
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week. Prominently featured were the
soles of The One’s feet, propped up on the presidential desk. This was a
message of contempt for Netanyahu intended for consumption in the Arab world,
where hurling shoes and showing the soles of your feet to others is considered
an insult of the type most foul. Obama is extremely adept in using his body
language and gestures to say things that he does not allow his mouth to say.
Remember how he flipped off Hillary Clinton during a debate last year? Do not
only pay attention to his words. Pay attention to his gestures, mannerisms and
actions. They portray a more complete package, one that holds this nation,
those that disagree with him, and the rest of us in utter contempt. PowerLine
– Thurs.
More later -
- AG
"If ye love wealth better than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better
than the animating contest of freedom, go home from us in peace. We ask not
your counsels or arms. Crouch down and lick the hands which feed you. May your
chains set lightly upon you, and may posterity forget that ye were our
countrymen."
- Samuel Adams, speech at the Philadelphia
State House, August 1, 1776.
Note: Interesting Items can be found at the following locations:
The Alaska Standard http://thealaskastandard.com/
MatSuValley News http://www.matsuvalleynews.com
District 28 http://www.dist28.com/
subscriber and supporter Elbert Collins at http://thatselbert.wordpress.com/
and the home page: http://home.gci.net/~agimarc
Rod Martin's The Vanguard site is also a long-time supporter of this column:
http://www.thevanguard.org/
_,_._.,___
* Shout Out *
To any one organizing a Tea Party. Reply with your details (when where, etc) to
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Internet.
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Rich Martin
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