| Jennifer Stone-Anderson says her 2004 Saturn Ion became a work of art this fall when she covered it with elaborate paintings supporting Barack Obama. But Chrysler, which financed her car purchase, maintains that it's just a car. And that Stone-Anderson has been missing payments. And that her work of "art" is about to be repossessed. |
LA Slimes:
Feinstein comment on U.S. drones likely to embarrass Pakistan
The Predator planes that launch missile strikes against militants are based in Pakistan, the senator says. That suggests a much deeper relationship with the U.S. than Islamabad would like to admit.
Reporting from Washington -- A senior U.S. lawmaker said Thursday that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an air base in that country, a revelation likely to embarrass the Pakistani government and complicate its counter-terrorism collaboration with the United States.
The disclosure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, marked the first time a U.S. official had publicly commented on where the Predator aircraft patrolling Pakistan take off and land.
At a hearing, Feinstein expressed surprise over Pakistani opposition to the campaign of Predator-launched CIA missile strikes against Islamic extremist targets along Pakistan's northwestern border.
"As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base," she said.
The basing of the pilotless aircraft in Pakistan suggests a much deeper relationship with the United States on counter-terrorism matters than has been publicly acknowledged. Such an arrangement would be at odds with protests lodged by officials in Islamabad, the capital, and could inflame anti-American sentiment in the country.
The CIA declined to comment, but former U.S. intelligence officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the information, confirmed that Feinstein's account was accurate.Dianne Feinstein playing peek-a-boo with Bin Laden
Bruce Hoffman, a terrorism expert at Georgetown University, said Feinstein's comments put Pakistan's government on the spot.
"If accurate, what this says is that Pakistani involvement, or at least acquiescence, has been much more extensive than has previously been known," he said. "It puts the Pakistani government in a far more difficult position [in terms of] its credibility with its own people. Unfortunately it also has the potential to threaten Pakistani-American relations."
Complete article at the link
FAIL
San Francisco Pays NRA $380,000 for Successful Proposition H Lawsuits
Total Tab to City for Unsuccessful Defense of Illegal Gun Ban Approaches $800,000
Friday, February 06, 2009
Fairfax, Va. – The City of San Francisco has paid $380,000 to the National Rifle Association (NRA) as reimbursement for legal fees incurred while striking down Proposition H, passed by San Francisco voters in November 2005.
“Freedom and common sense prevailed in San Francisco. Proposition H was a foolish scheme by anti-gun politicians to disarm only the law-abiding in San Francisco,” said NRA chief lobbyist Chris Cox. “NRA promised we would do everything we could to overturn this ill-conceived gun ban, and I am pleased to say that we have delivered on that promise. We will now put these funds back into use to advance self-defense civil rights in legislatures and courts.”
Combined with more than $200,000 in fees paid to City lawyers defending the ordinance and an equal value of lawyers time donated to the City for the unsuccessful defense of this case, the total costs to City taxpayers in defending against Proposition H, a civilian disarmament attempt, approaches $800,000.
Proposition H would have banned civilian handgun possession by city residents and banned the sale, transfer or distribution of any firearm or ammunition within the city. In addition, all San Francisco residents would have been jailed for a minimum of 90 days and up to six months if caught in possession of a handgun. All gun and ammunition sales and transfers would have been prohibited, and the one gun store and two antique firearm auction houses in San Francisco would have been forced out of business. Additionally, since action films involved the transfer of real prop firearms, no such films could have been made in the city.
"This is a tremendous victory, and we are thankful for the efforts of Chuck Michel and his legal team,” continued Cox. “Regrettably, San Francisco taxpayers have to bear the considerable financial burden caused by city officials’ selfish efforts to play politics with the self defense rights of law-abiding people.”
The lawsuits that struck down Proposition H were funded primarily by NRA and were supported by an NRA-led coalition of like-minded self-defense civil rights groups including the Second Amendment Foundation, California Association of Firearm Retailers, Law Enforcement Alliance of America, and San Francisco Veterans Police Officers Association. Amicus brief efforts were led by the California Rifle & Pistol Association and joined by Gun Owners of California, The Madison Society, American Entertainment Armorers Association, San Francisco Police Officers Association, Pink Pistols, and California Sportsman’s Lobby.
Source NRA-ILA
CENTCOM commander Gen. David Petraeus, supported by Defence Secretary Robert Gates, tried to convince President Barack Obama that he had to back down from his campaign pledge to withdraw all U.S. combat troops from Iraq within 16 months at an Oval Office meeting Jan. 21. But Obama informed Gates, Petraeus and Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen that he wasn’t convinced and that he wanted Gates and the military leaders to come back quickly with a detailed 16-month plan, according to two sources who have talked with participants in the meeting.
Obama’s decision to override Petraeus’s recommendation has not ended the conflict between the president and senior military officers over troop withdrawal, however. There are indications that Petraeus and his allies in the military and the Pentagon, including Gen. Ray Odierno, now the top commander in Iraq, have already begun to try to pressure Obama to change his withdrawal policy.
A network of senior military officers is also reported to be preparing to support Petraeus and Odierno by mobilising public opinion against Obama’s decision.
Read the rest here
02/04/2009
Dear Transsylvania Phoenix,
How are you and your family? I hope you all are doing great in these times of hope and change.
I just came back from another test time travel jump, this time to the year 2012 and wanted to share with you a picture I took in the front of the White House in Washington DC.
You will surely notice the surprisingly fast morphological and physiological changes future Americans will go through in only 4 short years under the leadership of the 44th President of the United States.
The reason I am writing you this email is to ask you for a little investment advice: do you think I should start investing in textiles manufacturing stock?
Best regards, your friend
Dr.XXX
Brad Jayakody, from Bayswater, central London, said he was "stumped" at the objection to his Transformers T-shirt.
Mr Jayakody said he had to change before boarding as security officers objected to the gun, held by the cartoon character.Airport operator BAA said it was investigating the incident.
Mr Jayakody said the incident happened a few weeks ago, when he was challenged by an official during a pre-flight security check.
"He says, 'we won't be able to let you through because your T-shirt has got a gun on it'," Mr Jayakody said.
"I was like, 'What are you talking about?'.
"[The official's] supervisor comes over and goes 'sorry we can't let you through and you've a gun on your T-shirt'," he said.
Mr Jayakody said he had to strip and change his T-shirt there before he was allowed to board his flight.
"I was just looking for someone with a bit of common sense," he said.
(good luck to you, I say)"It's a cartoon robot - what threat is it to security or offensive to anyone at all?"
A BAA spokesman said there was no record of the incident and no "formal complaint" had been made.
"If a T-shirt had a rude word or a bomb on it, for example, a passenger may be asked to remove it," he said.
"We are investigating what happened to see if it came under this category.
"If it's offensive, we don't want other passengers upset."
