War Drums: Iran Stops Oil exports to France, UK — still developing nukes; attack from US or Israel possibly soon says UK paper

Any other time, I would dismiss this as saber-rattling, but this first development here, has me very worried.

The first story via Reuters:

(Reuters) – Iran has stopped selling crude to British and French companies, the oil ministry said on Sunday, in a retaliatory measure against fresh EU sanctions on the Islamic state’s lifeblood, oil.
“Exporting crude to British and French companies has been stopped … we will sell our oil to new customers,” spokesman Alireza Nikzad was quoted as saying by the ministry of petroleum website.
The European Union in January decided to stop importing crude from Iran from July 1 over its disputed nuclear program, which the West says is aimed at building bombs. Iran denies this.
Iran’s oil minister said on February 4 that the Islamic state would cut its oil exports to “some” European countries.
The European Commission said last week that the bloc would not be short of oil if Iran stopped crude exports, as they have enough in stock to meet their needs for around 120 days.
Industry sources told Reuters on February 16 that Iran’s top oil buyers in Europe were making substantial cuts in supply months in advance of European Union sanctions, reducing flows to the continent in March by more than a third – or over 300,000 barrels daily.

What this will cause is a spike in prices in the oil market; which of course, will cause gas prices to go up in the U.K. and in France. The bad thing is, the U.K.’s and France’s gas prices are alright incredibly high, because of the high taxes that are being tagged on to the sales of gas. This, of course, is making United States and I would imagine international officials very nervous. So, talk of war is imminent.

Which brings us to our next story, which comes via the U.K. Guardian:

Officials in key parts of the Obama administration are increasingly convinced that sanctions will not deter Tehran from pursuing its nuclear programme, and believe that the US will be left with no option but to launch an attack on Iran or watch Israel do so.
The president has made clear in public, and in private to Israel, that he is determined to give sufficient time for recent measures, such as the financial blockade and the looming European oil embargo, to bite deeper into Iran’s already battered economy before retreating from its principal strategy to pressure Tehran.
But there is a strong current of opinion within the administration – including in the Pentagon and the state department – that believes sanctions are doomed to fail, and that their principal use now is in delaying Israeli military action, as well as reassuring Europe that an attack will only come after other means have been tested.
“The White House wants to see sanctions work. This is not the Bush White House. It does not need another conflict,” said an official knowledgeable on Middle East policy. “Its problem is that the guys in Tehran are behaving like sanctions don’t matter, like their economy isn’t collapsing, like Israel isn’t going to do anything.
“Sanctions are all we’ve got to throw at the problem. If they fail then it’s hard to see how we don’t move to the ‘in extremis’ option.”
The White House has said repeatedly that all options are on the table, including the use of force to stop Iran obtaining a nuclear weapon, but that for now the emphasis is firmly on diplomacy and sanctions.
But long-held doubts among US officials about whether the Iranians can be enticed or cajoled into serious negotiations have been reinforced by recent events.
“We don’t see a way forward,” said one official. “The record shows that there is nothing to work with.”
Scepticism about Iranian intent is rooted in Iran’s repeated spurning of overtures from successive US presidents from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama, who appealed within weeks of coming to office for “constructive ties” and “mutual respect” .
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s claim this week that Iran loaded its first domestically-made fuel rod into a nuclear reactor, and Iran’s threat to cut oil supplies to six European countries, were read as further evidence that Tehran remains defiantly committed to its nuclear programme. That view was strengthened by the latest Iranian offer to negotiate with the UN security council in a letter that appeared to contain no significant new concessions.
If Obama were to conclude that there is no choice but to attack Iran, he is unlikely to order it before the presidential election in November unless there is an urgent reason to do so. The question is whether the Israelis will hold back that long.

I hated to quote so much of that; but I wanted see what it is that I am talking about. Everyone that reads this blog for any length of time; knows that I am not a huge fan of so-called “Military Action.” I believe if we are going to have war with Iran, we need to formally declare war against Iran in Congress and then go fight the Iranians. Not just have some sort of “Military Action.” Because as we all know from history, those “Military Actions” can turn into a meat grinder real quick; case in point, Iraq.

Also, if anyone who happens to read this, and is a Ron Paul supporter and thinks this is a big scam. (Update: Perfect example here!) Check this report out via the Associated Press:

VIENNA (AP) — Iran is poised to greatly expand uranium enrichment at a fortified underground bunker to a point that would boost how quickly it could make nuclear warheads, diplomats tell The Associated Press.
They said Tehran has put finishing touches for the installation of thousands of new-generation centrifuges at the cavernous facility – machines that can produce enriched uranium much more quickly and efficiently than its present machines.
While saying that the electrical circuitry, piping and supporting equipment for the new centrifuges was now in place, the diplomats emphasized that Tehran had not started installing the new machines at its Fordo facility and could not say whether it was planning to.
Still, the senior diplomats – who asked for anonymity because their information was privileged – suggested that Tehran would have little reason to prepare the ground for the better centrifuges unless it planned to operate them. They spoke in recent interviews – the last one Saturday.
The reported work at Fordo appeared to reflect Iran’s determination to forge ahead with nuclear activity that could be used to make atomic arms despite rapidly escalating international sanctions and the latent threat of an Israeli military strike on its nuclear facilities.
Fordo could be used to make fissile warhead material even without such an upgrade, the diplomats said.
They said that although older than Iran’s new generation machines, the centrifuges now operating there can be reconfigured within days to make such material because they already are enriching to 20 percent – a level that can be boosted quickly to weapons-grade quality.

It is quite obvious the Iranians are not just bluffing when it comes to making nuclear warheads. The problem is that this puts the United States in a very difficult position. The United States and NATO got involved with Libya and that did not end very good at all. The United States has basically stayed out of the Syrian conflict. If the Obama Administration does decide to act against Iran, its critics would savage the President for acting against an oil rich Nation like Iran, as opposed to coming to the aid of people being oppressed in a Nation like Syria.

The Obama Administration seems to be hedging its bets on sanctions on Iran and if there an attack that it would come from Israel. The problem with that is this; the President of Iran, quite bluntly, is crazy —- as in psycho kind of crazy. If Iran is attacked by Israel, they will most assuredly fire missiles at the United States, the UK and everyone else. So, there you have it. This is where we stand. The libertarian in me is praying someone in Iran blinks and backs off. However, the realist in me is not that optimistic. Something tells me that we are headed for another conflict, which saddens me greatly.

Because the question that Americans will have to ask ourselves and the Obama Administration will have to ask itself or if one of the Republicans just happen to win — they will have to ask themselves this question here: Would it be honestly worth putting our youngest treasures out there again to be turn into a meat grinder, just to put down another out of control Arab Country? This is the question that responsible people in all levels of Government have to ask themselves. We just do not need another Iraq again. We, as a nation cannot afford it monetarily, and our Military is still recovering from the last General’s war that was fought.

Something, somewhere has to give and for the sake of this Country — I hope it is them, and not us.

Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab appeals his sentence

Remember this guy who got sent up the river?

Well, it appears now that ol’ Sabu here is not too keen on being the pivot man in the prison circle jerk.

The Story:

Detroit— “Underwear bomber” Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab appealed his life sentence Friday, one day after a judge issued the maximum penalty for trying to destroy a Detroit-bound airliner carrying 289 people on Christmas Day 2009.
The notice of appeal was filed in federal court in Detroit.
U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds sentenced Abdulmutallab to four life terms on Thursday, ending the country’s highest-profile terror case since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
“This court has no ability to control his motivation, which appears to be unchanged,” Edmunds said Thursday. “I can control his opportunity to act on those intentions.
“I believe he poses a significant ongoing threat to (the) safety of American citizens everywhere.”
Before being sentenced, Abdulmutallab’s legal adviser, Detroit lawyer Anthony Chambers, argued the mandatory life sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment
via ‘Underwear bomber’ Abdulmutallab appeals life sentence | The Detroit News | detroitnews.com.

Like I wrote in my last entry about this idiot; we should have tried this terrorist puke in a military court. This murderous thug is not a uniformed combatant, he is a terrorist thug, who should be executed by firing squad, or better yet, with a damn rope and a tree. Racism? man, please. 🙄 Anyone who does what this little puke did, should not be affording any sort of respect at all. Least of all any respect of his race. 😡

But, now, as I wrote before, we will have to pay for this puke’s legal defense and pay to feed, clothe and shelter this little puke. Which is morally wrong, considering who and what he is, and what he tried to do. Which was not a ordinary criminal act, but an act of war. But your friendly neighborhood Marxists feel that he deserves the protection of the Constitution of the United States.

It is truly pathetic, it really is; here is hoping that we elect a President in 2012, that sees this threat for what it truly is and not a criminal one.

Terrorist Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab sentenced to 4 life sentences plus 50 years.

I wish it were the death penalty, but this is good:

DETROIT — The Nigerian man who tried to blow up a Detroit-bound airliner with explosives concealed in his underwear on Christmas Day in 2009 was sentenced on Thursday to life in prison by a federal judge who said his crime and subsequent lack of remorse demanded the maximum possible punishment.
Prosecutors sought a life sentence for Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pled guilty to federal charges in connection with a failed bombing attempt.
The man, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, who pleaded guilty in October and admitted to working on behalf of Al Qaeda, shouted “Allah Akbar,” or “God is great,” five times during the sentencing hearing. He asserted that Muslims were “proud to kill in the name of God, and that is what God told us to do in the Koran.
via Would-Be Plane Bomber Sentenced to Life – NYTimes.com.

So, great, The United States of America is now going to have to feed, cloth, and shelter this little cretin for the rest of his life. This is why this trial should have been in military court, where he would have been sentenced to death. It would have been cheaper to do; than to do this here.

Here is the money quote:

Mr. Abdulmutallab, who wore a white T-shirt and tan pants, spoke for about three minutes. He claimed that Osama bin Laden and other Al Qaeda leaders who have been killed “are alive and shall be victorious by God’s grace.” He also said terrorist attacks would continue “until the Jews are driven out of Palestine.”

Frankly, I am shocked that the NYT even bothered to include that quote. But that right there is the crux of why we have Terrorism at all; because of our support of Israel. Someone needs to show Ronnie Paul that quote too. Because his bat-shit insane position on terrorism is the narrative of the left.

I have a strange new respect for Alan Dershowitz

I am very glad to see that someone on the left is taking a stand against the far leftists in the Democratic Party.

Unfortunately, I cannot embed the sound clip here, but I suggest that you go over and listen to the interview. (Hat Tip to Andrew Brietbart)

Here’s the story over at the Daily Caller:

Media Matters could become the Rev. Jeremiah Wright of 2012 for the Obama campaign if the White House and the Democratic Party don’t clearly distance themselves from the organization.
“Well I think if swing voters in the pro-Israel community had any idea how extreme Media Matters was on issues of Israel and supporters of Israel, they would regard Media Matters as another, you know, Rev. Wright,” Dershowitz told The Daily Caller.
“And for many, many in the pro-Israel community, it would be a game changer.”
Dershowitz went so far as to suggest that Media Matters’s rhetoric on Israel, particularly from Media Matters Action Network senior fellow M.J. Rosenberg, is similar to what one would find on a neo-Nazi website.
“When I started reading their stuff it sounded like the kind of stuff you see on neo-Nazi websites,” Dershowitz said. “Or on Hezbollah-supporter websites. It is so extremist. The thing that shocked me is that anybody regarded it as mainstream.”
Media Matters did not respond to a request by TheDC for comment.
Dershowitz said he is not on Media Matters’s email list and is only aware of the language they use when discussing Israel and Israel’s supporters because of emails sent to him from what he identifies as a neo-Nazi website, ReportersNotebook.

“You know where I get their stuff? I read their stuff mostly on a neo-Nazi website that sends it to me,” he explained. “Somehow I am on their mailing list. I am not on Media Matters’s mailing list. But I tend to read Media Matters articles when they’re sent to me by a neo-Nazi website.”
The man behind ReportersNotebook, Michael Santomauro, denied that his email or blog is neo-Nazi in orientation, though he admits to questioning the narrative of the Holocaust and says he believes that Israel is a fascist state.
Though Dershowitz says he doesn’t think the Obama administration and Media Matters are close, he believes the White House has to clearly distance itself from the organization because Democrats like him cannot exist within a tent that tolerates Media Matters.
“The Obama administration cannot have Media Matters and me or people who look to me for advice,” Dershowitz told TheDC. “We cannot be in the same tent. The tent is not big enough to include us.”

I did some poking around on this Michael Santomauro guy. He either works for or owns this place here. He has some interesting views on Israel, 9/11 and Jews. He is essentially what I was accused of being; a Jew hater. His little attempt to come off sounding like some sort of academic does not fool me one iota.

What one must understand is this; the reason why this holocaust revisionist was reposting items that Media Matters was publishing, is that much of the far left and people like this person, agrees on their positions on Israel. He is correct in saying that he is not a Neo-Nazi, he is not; he is one of the growing numbers of people who are anti-Israel. This man is, frankly, one of David Duke’s types of people. Maybe not so much into the white sheets and hoods, but the Jewish hatred and bigotry is still there.

Sadly, there are those kinds of people on the right as well. One example can be found here. They call themselves “radical traditionalists.” I like to call them “Hi-Brow” bigots. They are Anti-Religion, Anti-Israel, and very anti-Jew. They speak glowingly of Hitler and Nazi Germany as well. This goes well beyond the Paleoconservatives/neoconservatives divide. This is Ron Paul and Pat Buchanan’s philosophy on steroids. They are in the same camp as Lew Rockwell and his ilk. Haters they are; and somehow they claim to be the “real” libertarians and those at places like Reason magazine are the phonies.

I was very reluctantly put the libertarian and constitutionalist party’s logos back on my blog, after disowning the GOP’s candidates; this here, of what I have written, is the main reason of that reluctance. Because there are just some within the libertarian ranks that are just straight up haters, and as I have written before, I just cannot deal with that nonsense. Further, the people that I have written of here are still fighting a battle that we lost long ago. What they are fighting against, is the elimination of the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant class of man. The problem is, we WASP’s for short; lost that battle eons ago. What bothers me is the fact that these people actually believe that hatred is going to change anything.

Hating on Jews, blacks and Latinas are not going to make them ago away. It is simply going to make you look like some paranoid idiot that fears those that do not look, act or have the money that you do. Maybe it is because I happen to be a Christian myself, is why I never quit understood the rational of these people; or it is because I grew up here in Michigan and was raised not to judge people by the color of their skin.

Maybe it is because I was born with something that seems to be lacking among these people — common sense.

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Open Message to Bill Donahue: Where is the fatwa on Nicki Minaj?

I am shocked he did not issue one, after this asinine performance:

21221223435 by YardieGoals

Gateway Pundit calls this “brave.” What a fool. 😡

Rod Dreher says it is part of the Anti-Christian and Anti-Catholic culture in America. Which is very true.

Dreher also says this:

It’s tiresome when Christians respond to things like this by saying, “They would never consider doing something like using Islāmic imagery.” But you know, it’s true. It’s always true. Let those with eyes to see.

Amen to that; and it is true, had this been a song mocking the religion of Islam. This young woman would be either in hiding wishing she was dead or would be dead. It is too bad that Bill Donahue, who did issue a statement about the performance, which I feel was totally inadequate for the scope of mockery here — did not issue a fatwa against this woman. I mean, it should have read something to the effect of, “The Catholic League will pay someone 1 million dollars, if someone will take this little black mocker of God out.” I believe it would have caused an uproar, but it would have gotten her and her managements attention.

A few days ago, Whitney Houston died of unknown causes. At the moment I found out, I thought, “How unfair.” For all Whitney’s problems and personal issues; she was still a wonderful talent that had so much more to give to her fans. Such is not the case with this idiot mocker of the Faith. So, seeing that I am a controversial blogger; I will say this — Here is hoping that this little classless black hoe meets the same fate as Whitney Houston and I mean very quickly. Anyone who mocks religion, does not deserve the breath the they keep in the lungs. This was not art; this was open mockery of Roman Catholicism, The Church, and Christianity in General.

Again, had this been a song about Islam and its repressive Religion, she would be in hiding; but, because it is a mockery of the Christian faith, The “LA CROWD” was fine with it. This tells you how far that the music industry, Hollywood and the L.A. Scene has fallen in the last 50 years. This wasn’t cool, this wasn’t ironic, this wasn’t funny, this wasn’t hip; this was a disgraceful attack on God, organized Religion in general, the Church as a concept, Christianity and the Roman Catholic Church. Because of this; I found Mr. Donahue’s statement a bit lacking. Could it be that Bill Donahue has lost his edge? I sure haven’t, nor will I ever.

I end this blog posting with this, a Bible scripture that says:

Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. (Galatians 6:7 KJV)

Here is hoping that Mr. Minaj reaps the whirlwind of her actions and quickly.

The truth is, she will, whether in this life or the next; the fact remains is she will face a Holy and Righteous God, and will have to explain her actions. Based upon what I saw last night, this will happen, before she is cast into a godless hell and then the Lake of Fire.

Revelation 20:11-15 KJV:
(11) And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
(12) And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
(13) And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.
(14) And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.
(15) And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.

The quicker, the better; if you ask me.

Update: Heck even TMZ didn’t even like it!

Here’s the roundup, mostly of liberals mocking Bill Donahue’s statement: Speakeasy, CBS Los Angeles, Rolling Stone, Big Hollywood, Religion Dispatches, BuzzFeed, The Raw Story, Joe. My. God. and Gothamist

Is this the best that the AFL-CIO can do?

Shocker! Not. (Via InstaPundit)

Protesters at Friday’s “Occupy CPAC” event, organized by AFL-CIO and the Occupy DC movement, told The Daily Caller that they were paid “sixty bucks a head” to protest outside the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C.
One protester told TheDC that all the “Occupy” activists were being paid to protest, and that his union, Sheet Metal Workers Local 100, approached him about the money-making opportunity.
“I have nothing nice to say about Local 100. … They just told me ‘you wanna make sixty bucks? So c’mon,’” the protester said.
Other “Occupy CPAC” protesters were unwilling to speak on camera because they were unaware what they were protesting and what the CPAC event was about.
via Occupy CPAC | Union | Paid | The Daily Caller.

Allow me to say this; as the son of a retired General Motors worker and retired member of the UAW —- is this is the best that the AFL-CIO can do for a protest? If this is the case, and I do fear that it is — then I do fear for the future of the labor movement. Because this is how lame, desperate — pick a damn adverb — that they have become. The once great AFL-CIO, which stood for the common man and made sure that crony capitalists were held in check; is now nothing more than a casting service for the far liberal left.

Another thing too; if the AFL-CIO is paying people to protest — my question is, what else are they planning on paying people to do? I mean, and I hate to be the one to say it — But these people are a part of the far liberal left, we used to call them communists. Anyhow, what else will they pay people to do? All I am going to say is this; it was a glitter bomb used here here recently on Mitt Romney, I just hope the secret service is up for the job. Because I will say this; in 1970 Walter Reuther‘s plane went down near Black Lake, Michigan. Most union people believe the plane was sabotaged. They also believe that the crony capitalists at the big three were responsible; I disagree with that. I believe the the communists did him in. Because in 1949, Reuther expelled the Communist-backed unions from the CIO. Who is to say, that they did not kill Reuther in an act of revenge? Communists, much like their brothers-in-arms — Muslim Terrorists — are very patient people and will wait for their moment of revenge, years if it takes that long.

Because you have to understand, these people on the far communist left; they know no valor, no morals — nothing. They are power hungry people and they have much invested in Barack Obama and they will stop at nothing to protect him. This is why I worry about whomever becomes the nominee of the GOP. Because in 2008, they had nothing really to lose. In 2012, it is another story; they have a whole bunch to lose. I am not saying that I have any sort of inside knowledge at all. However, I know these people and I know how they play their game. I just hope the GOP, the secret service and everyone else on the right is on their game. Because to be quite honest, in this election; I fear the worst. I don’t know why. But I do. You can call it a gut feeling that I have.

I just hope, for everyone’s sake — that I am wrong. 🙁

My thoughts on the mortgage settlement

You can read about this here, here, here and here.

First of all, let me say this; this issue here, above all of the others, is why I packed it in with the Democratic Party. On top of all of the class warfare, class resentment, racial resentment and everything else; was the realization that I made, that the Democratic Party, starting in 1973 and again in 1993 literally rigged the system to fail. This was by loosing credit restrictions to allow people, who had no business even getting loans, to get credit so easily.

Then once the system failed, the Government, started by George W. Bush in 2008 with tarp loans and the bailing out banks that were “Too big to fail.” Not to mention the fact that the Republicans ripped out regulations that made the whole thing like one million percent worse and when the Republican Congress received a warning that the whole thing was going to collapse, what did they do? They held a hearing and the CEO of Freddy and Fannie played the RACE CARD, they retreated! 😡 I won’t even get into the stupidity of the Federal Reserve, which really made some seriously idiotic mistakes.

Then instead of Obama being smart and saying, “We’re not picking favorites, we are going to allow the market to correct itself.” Instead, he continued the bailouts and even spent more on top of that. Not the mention his attempt to destroy our private healthcare system.

Anyhow, this settlement is not perfect; in fact, it stinks and someone has given a bullet-point list as to why.

This is via Naked Capitalism:

Here are the top twelve reasons why this deal stinks:
1. We’ve now set a price for forgeries and fabricating documents. It’s $2000 per loan. This is a rounding error compared to the chain of title problem these systematic practices were designed to circumvent. The cost is also trivial in comparison to the average loan, which is roughly $180k, so the settlement represents about 1% of loan balances. It is less than the price of the title insurance that banks failed to get when they transferred the loans to the trust. It is a fraction of the cost of the legal expenses when foreclosures are challenged. It’s a great deal for the banks because no one is at any of the servicers going to jail for forgery and the banks have set the upper bound of the cost of riding roughshod over 300 years of real estate law.
2. That $26 billion is actually $5 billion of bank money and the rest is your money. The mortgage principal writedowns are guaranteed to come almost entirely from securitized loans, which means from investors, which in turn means taxpayers via Fannie and Freddie, pension funds, insurers, and 401 (k)s. Refis of performing loans also reduce income to those very same investors.
3. That $5 billion divided among the big banks wouldn’t even represent a significant quarterly hit. Freddie and Fannie putbacks to the major banks have been running at that level each quarter.
4. That $20 billion actually makes bank second liens sounder, so this deal is a stealth bailout that strengthens bank balance sheets at the expense of the broader public.
5. The enforcement is a joke. The first layer of supervision is the banks reporting on themselves. The framework is similar to that of the OCC consent decrees implemented last year, which Adam Levitin and yours truly, among others, decried as regulatory theater.
6. The past history of servicer consent decrees shows the servicers all fail to comply. Why? Servicer records and systems are terrible in the best of times, and their systems and fee structures aren’t set up to handle much in the way of delinquencies. As Tom Adams has pointed out in earlier posts, servicer behavior is predictable when their portfolios are hit with a high level of delinquencies and defaults: they cheat in all sorts of ways to reduce their losses.
7. The cave-in Nevada and Arizona on the Countrywide settlement suit is a special gift for Bank of America, who is by far the worst offender in the chain of title disaster (since, according to sworn testimony of its own employee in Kemp v. Countrywide, Countrywide failed to comply with trust delivery requirements). This move proves that failing to comply with a consent degree has no consequences but will merely be rolled into a new consent degree which will also fail to be enforced. These cases also alleged HAMP violations as consumer fraud violations and could have gotten costly and emboldened other states to file similar suits not just against Countrywide but other servicers, so it was useful to the other banks as well.
8. If the new Federal task force were intended to be serious, this deal would have not have been settled. You never settle before investigating. It’s a bad idea to settle obvious, widespread wrongdoing on the cheap. You use the stuff that is easy to prove to gather information and secure cooperation on the stuff that is harder to prove. In Missouri and Nevada, the robosigning investigation led to criminal charges against agents of the servicers. But even though these companies were acting at the express direction and approval of the services, no individuals or entities higher up the food chain will face any sort of meaningful charges.
9. There is plenty of evidence of widespread abuses that appear not to be on the attorney generals’ or media’s radar, such as servicer driven foreclosures and looting of investors’ funds via impermissible and inflated charges. While no serious probe was undertaken, even the limited or peripheral investigations show massive failures (60% of documents had errors in AGs/Fed’s pathetically small sample). Similarly, the US Trustee’s office found widespread evidence of significant servicer errors in bankruptcy-related filings, such as inflated and bogus fees, and even substantial, completely made up charges. Yet the services and banks will suffer no real consequences for these abuses.
10. A deal on robosiginging serves to cover up the much deeper chain of title problem. And don’t get too excited about the New York, Massachusetts, and Delaware MERS suits. They put pressure on banks to clean up this monstrous mess only if the AGs go through to trial and get tough penalties. The banks will want to settle their way out of that too. And even if these cases do go to trial and produce significant victories for the AGs, they still do not address the problem of failures to transfer notes correctly.
11. Don’t bet on a deus ex machina in terms of the new Federal foreclosure task force to improve this picture much. If you think Schneiderman, as a co-chairman who already has a full time day job in New York, is going to outfox a bunch of DC insiders who are part of the problem, I have a bridge I’d like to sell to you.
12. We’ll now have to listen to banks and their sycophant defenders declaring victory despite being wrong on the law and the facts. They will proceed to marginalize and write off criticisms of the servicing practices that hurt homeowners and investors and are devastating communities. But the problems will fester and the housing market will continue to suffer. Investors in mortgage-backed securities, who know that services have been screwing them for years, will be hung out to dry and will likely never return to a private MBS market, since the problems won’t ever be fixed. This settlement has not only revealed the residential mortgage market to be too big to fail, but puts it on long term, perhaps permanent, government life support.
As we’ve said before, this settlement is yet another raw demonstration of who wields power in America, and it isn’t you and me. It’s bad enough to see these negotiations come to their predictable, sorry outcome. It adds insult to injury to see some try to depict it as a win for long suffering, still abused homeowners.

I have zero to add to this. The only thing I will ask is, who’s paying for all of this? Answer: You and Me — in Taxes. 😡

This is why we need a new political Party to get in there and fix this asinine morass.

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Coming to an airspace near you: 30,000 surveillance drones!

Remember what I wrote this?

A Government that watches it’s citizens and considers them a threat; fears those people and that is because they are doing wrong. This is nothing more than a police state action; and the American people should vote accordingly in 2012.

Well, here you go, this confirms what I said….:

Look! Up in the sky! Is it a bird? Is it a plane? It’s … a drone, and it’s watching you. That’s what privacy advocates fear from a bill Congress passed this week to make it easier for the government to fly unmanned spy planes in U.S. airspace.
The FAA Reauthorization Act, which President Obama is expected to sign, also orders the Federal Aviation Administration to develop regulations for the testing and licensing of commercial drones by 2015.
Privacy advocates say the measure will lead to widespread use of drones for electronic surveillance by police agencies across the country and eventually by private companies as well.
“There are serious policy questions on the horizon about privacy and surveillance, by both government agencies and commercial entities,” said Steven Aftergood, who heads the Project on Government Secrecy at the Federation of American Scientists.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation also is “concerned about the implications for surveillance by government agencies,” said attorney Jennifer Lynch.
via Drones over U.S. get OK by Congress – Washington Times.

The nanny staters and big Government socialists will carp — But-but-but-but it is for the greater good!:

“It’s not all about surveillance,” Mr. Aftergood said.
Homeland Security has deployed drones to support disaster relief operations. Unmanned aircraft also could be useful for fighting fires or finding missing climbers or hikers, he added.
The FAA has issued hundreds of certificates to police and other government agencies, and a handful to research institutions to allow them to fly drones of various kinds over the United States for particular missions.
The agency said it issued 313 certificates in 2011 and 295 of them were still active at the end of the year, but the FAA refuses to disclose which agencies have the certificates and what their purposes are.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is suing the FAA to obtain records of the certifications.

Good luck with that lawsuit. The Government only reveals what they want you to know. You can go read the rest of that; but one thing that stands out:

Currently, the only barrier to the routine use of drones for persistent surveillance are the procedural requirements imposed by the FAA for the issuance of certificates,” said Amie Stepanovich, national security counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center, a research center in Washington.
The Department of Transportation, the parent agency of the FAA, has announced plans to streamline the certification process for government drone flights this year, she said.

I give it about a year or so; and they Governments — local, state and federal will be flying these drones, with equipment in them to see inside houses and know what you are doing. It is what the liberal Democrats and Statist Republicans in this Country have wanted to do for years. Now the technology is there and they can do it.

As Randy Weaver found out, the Government is not your friend; and if and when they want to come after you, they will. This right here will make that feat even more possible.

(H/T HotAir.com Headlines)

FBI says that “sovereign citizens” are a threat.

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm….:

(Reuters) – Anti-government extremists opposed to taxes and regulations pose a growing threat to local law enforcement officers in the United States, the FBI warned on Monday.
These extremists, sometimes known as “sovereign citizens,” believe they can live outside any type of government authority, FBI agents said at a news conference.
The extremists may refuse to pay taxes, defy government environmental regulations and believe the United States went bankrupt by going off the gold standard.
Routine encounters with police can turn violent “at the drop of a hat,” said Stuart McArthur, deputy assistant director in the FBI’s counterterrorism division.
“We thought it was important to increase the visibility of the threat with state and local law enforcement,” he said.
via FBI warns of threat from anti-government extremists | Reuters.

I said this over at another blog’s comment section and I will say it here; A Government that watches it’s citizens and considers them a threat; fears those people and that is because they are doing wrong. This is nothing more than a police state action; and the American people should vote accordingly in 2012.

Further more, I find it most insulting that the United States Government would rather hunt down its own citizens, rather than hunt down and capture the real terrorists, who truly hate this Country and want to see it destroyed. That would be the radical Islamic Jihad Terrorists; you know like the ones that slammed those planes into the Trade Center, the Pentegon, and the field near Shanksville, Pa? — or people like these here? But no, our Government, see people like me; citizens who disagree with the policies of the socialist President to be a threat.

Having said that, I have an open message to the United States Government, Federal Bureau of Investigation, President Barack Hussein Obama, The United Nations and the rest of the Big Government morass:

Go Fuck Yourselves Sirs!

Which is all the more reason to go here and get armed with one of these:

That is all….

Others: Blogcritics, Hot Air, Weasel Zippers, Scared Monkeys, Atlas Shrugs, The PJ Tatler

Update: Like this posting? Please vote it up over at Reddit, please.

Religion of Peace?: Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, “Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel”

Hmmmmm:

The Iranian government, through a website proxy, has laid out the legal and religious justification for the destruction of Israel and the slaughter of its people.
The doctrine includes wiping out Israeli assets and Jewish people worldwide.
Calling Israel a danger to Islam, the conservative website Alef, with ties to Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, said the opportunity must not be lost to remove “this corrupting material. It is a “‘jurisprudential justification” to kill all the Jews and annihilate Israel, and in that, the Islamic government of Iran must take the helm.”
The article, written by Alireza Forghani, an analyst and a strategy specialist in Khamenei’s camp, now is being run on most state-owned conservative sites, including the Revolutionary Guards’ Fars News Agency, showing that the regime endorses this doctrine.
via Ayatollah: Kill all Jews, annihilate Israel – WND .

But…..but…..but…. they’re peaceful Muslims!!!!!! 🙄

Why are they saying this?:

Because Israel is going to attack Iran’s nuclear facilities, Iran is justified in launching a pre-emptive, cataclysmic attack against the Jewish state, the doctrine argues.
On Friday, in a major speech at prayers, Khamenei announced that Iran will support any nation or group that attacks the “cancerous tumor” of Israel. Though his statement was seen by some in the West as fluff, there is substance behind it.
Iran’s Defense Ministry announced this weekend that it test-fired an advanced two-stage, solid-fuel ballistic missile and boasted about successfully putting a new satellite into orbit, reminding the West that its engineers have mastered the technology for intercontinental ballistic missiles even as the Islamic state pushes its nuclear weapons program.
The commander of the Revolutionary Guards, Brig. Gen. Seyyed Mehdi Farahi, stated in August that the Safir missile, which is capable of transporting a satellite into space, can easily be launched parallel to the earth’s orbit, which will transform it into an intercontinental ballistic missile. Western analysts didn’t believe this would happen until 2015. Historically, orbiting a satellite is the criterion for crediting a nation with ICBM capability.
Forghani details the Islamic duty of jihad as laid out in the Quran for the sake of Allah and states that “primary jihad,” according to some Shiite jurists, can only occur when the Hidden Imam, the Shiites’ 12th Imam Mahdi, returns. Shiites believe Mahdi’’s return will usher in Armageddon.
In the absence of the hidden Imam, Forghani says, “defensive jihad” could certainly take place when Islam is threatened, and Muslims must defend Islam and kill their enemies. To justify such action, Alef quotes the Shiites’ first imam, Ali, who stated “Waging war against the enemies with whom war is inevitable and there is a strong possibility that in near future they will attack Muslims is a must and the duty of Muslims.” In this regard, Ayatollah Khamenei has issued a fatwa in which he has even authorized carrying out primary jihad in the age of the absence of the Hidden imam under the authorization of Vali Faghih.

So, because Israel wants to protect itself from a insane regime, that is dedicated to the destruction of Israel and the Jews; that justifies their desire to destroy Israel and America? Then, to justify this; they use a false, throwback religion to justify it? Oh brother… 🙄 I believe that Israel and United States of America ought to give these turban wearing pieces of human excrement what they really desire to have. Which is all out war and the destruction of their Nation. I mean the international community has bent over backwards for these people and yet they still will not work with the U.N. So, I say, give them what they want — and crush the Islamic Republic of Iran to powder and be done with them.

Also, before anyone comes to my comment section and accuses me of not being a libertarian or a Constitutionalist; allow me to say this — on this issue of Jihad, radical Islam and American defense. I do not agree with Ron Paul’s idiotic assumptions that these are peaceful people. I am afraid that this is a misconception. These leaders and most of the people in the Nation of Iran; are NOT peaceful people. They have the same mentality that the hijackers that flew those planes into a World Trade Center Buildings in Manhattan, The Pentagon and into the field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The mentality is that the United States of America is the great Satan of the World and that they are the supporter of Israel and of the Jew. This is the very same mentality of the Nazi Party of Germany and it is one that the United States of America crushed during World War II, along with the imperialistic empire of Japan. We did it once and we can do it again. We just have to elect a President who sees this threat for what it really is and decides to act accordingly.

That is what this Nation needs in 2012.

Others: Jihad Watch, Weasel Zippers and THE ASTUTE BLOGGERS