NAACP, Others Start Tea Party Stalking Site

Sweetness and Light "The site’s success will likely be measured in the "gotcha" moments it can accumulate that aim to embarrass or undermine the Tea Party movement. The submissions will most often come from citizen journalists, who have grown in form and fashion since Sen. George Allen of Virginia was ousted from his Senate seat in 1996 after his "macaca" moment…"

New York Times blames the victims for Beit Hagai massacre

Leo Rennert "The article's lead paragraph makes perfectly clear where the Times thinks the primary blame for the deadliest terrorist attack on Israeli civilians in more than two years lies. The killing of these Israelis on the eve of peace talks in Washington, Kershner and Landler write, "underscored the disruptive role that the issue of Jewish settlements could play in the already fragile negotiations." "  Much more on this topic below.

An Inconvenient Extremist

American Thinker "Indeed, the purveyors of environmental extremism reap riches through the sale of their delusional books and videos. Have you seen the pictures of Al Gore's new multi-million dollar oceanside mansion?But, that story will go unreported by liberal media outlets.
 "There will be no investigative reports. There will be no exposes on dangerous and violent radical environmentalism. There will be no recriminations by "mainstream" liberal groups.
"That would not push the liberal/progressive/environmentalist agenda forward."

Cracks in Climate Change Onslaught Appear  "All of this scare-tactic hysteria comes without any credible and repeatable scientific tests showing how trivial amounts of CO2 can have any major impact on global warming and without any believable mathematical model showing minimal climate change in over 1000 years except for the last 70 years of technological progress."

Karl Rove: A dangerous world needs stronger U.S. leadership.

WSJ "As a foreign policy address, however, the speech missed the mark. While Mr. Obama did acknowledge that the U.S. "intends to sustain and strengthen our leadership" in the world, most foreign observers will probably remember the president's tone of haste, withdrawal and even retreat. His phrase, "It is time to turn the page," caught many an ear around the world—and not to America's advantage."....

"The world needs a determined United States. It is in the security, diplomatic and economic interests of our nation to provide to Iraq and Afghanistan the same patient leadership we provided in Europe and Asia. We face new threats from Iran. China and Russia are both flexing their muscles. Telegraphing to the world that America is no longer a dependable ally is the worst possible message a president can send." Emphasis added.

More Arguments against a Value-Added Tax

CATO Institute "This means that a VAT will allow more government spending and no reduction in deficits and debt, which is exactly what we see in Europe (and as Jim Powell noted in his column). Last but not least, this video summarizes the best arguments against a VAT."

Also from CATO:  Mr. President, Tear Down That Andy Griffith Ad "The Obama administration spent your tax dollars on a pro-ObamaCare ad, featuring Andy Griffith, that FactCheck.org found uses “weasel words” to “mislead” seniors about how that law would affect them. (As I blogged previously, FactCheck.org understated the case.) Nonetheless, over at Medicare.gov, the administration is still running that dishonest ad.
"They should take the ad down."

From FactCheck: Would the sheriff of Mayberry mislead you about Medicare? Alas, yes. "So how can the Obama administration claim that "guaranteed Medicare benefits will remain the same"? The answer is that the term "guaranteed" is a weasel word — a qualifier that sucks the meaning out of a phrase in the way that weasels supposedly suck the contents out of an egg. It may sound to the casual listener as though this ad is saying that the benefits of all Medicare recipients are guaranteed to stay the same — and that may well be the way the ad’s sponsors wish listeners to hear it. But what the administration is really saying is that only those benefits that are guaranteed in law will remain the same."

Swing sets removed at some W.Va. schools

Yahoo News "Stewart says a lawsuit in the past year involved a youngster who broke his arm jumping off a swing like Superman. It was settled for $20,000.
"Other equipment such as monkey bars will remain. Stewart says the schools are able to maintain the proper protection underneath them." Via Boortz, who calls this "the wussification of America"

Arizona Now Has ‘Whopping 30’ National Guard Troops and 15 Billboard Signs Warning Citizens About Drug Cartels Operating on Public Lands

CNS News “And that it’s okay to put up signs in my county and parts of America to surrender parts of our country to foreign born criminals,” [Sheriff] Babeu added, “warning our own American citizens to stay out.”

THE [POLITICIZATION] OF 9/11

Neal Boortz "At a time when Muslim Americans could stand up in the face of the radicals who have hijacked their religion, at a time when they could show the up-most sensitivities for Americans who lost their lives .. these Muslims organizations decide to ban together and claim that the opposition to the mosque is "unethical, insensitive and inhumane."
"Until charades like this come to an end, there is no chance that Americans are going to be accepting of the peaceful, serene religion of Islam."

THE SOCIAL SECURITY SCARE

Neal Boortz "The left has some additional ammunition to use this time because there actually is a plan proposed by Republican Paul Ryan for a partial privatization of Social Security. I think that Ryan's plan would call for people to be able to take 2% of their wages that would be headed for the non-existent Social Security trust fund and divert it to a private account. Now here are three key details of this private account:
"1.You would get a guaranteed 1% rate of return on the money deposited in your account.
"2.That money would be absolutely guaranteed to you. You may be surprised to know that your current Social Security benefits are not.
"3.When you die your heirs will get that money ... or it will go to whoever you designate in your will.
"Now just how dense do you have to be to say that this would not be a good idea?"

Uprooting Crosses, One By One

Townhall "While the furor over the proposed mosque at Ground Zero has New York Gov. David Paterson offering public land as a peace offering, a more familiar symbol - the cross - is systematically being uprooted around the country." Robert Knight is Senior Writer for Coral Ridge Ministries and a Senior Fellow for the American Civil Rights Union.

Israelis, Palestinians resume direct peace talks (Updated)

Yahoo News "After a day and evening in White House talks with President Barack Obama, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas sit down together Thursday for the first of what American officials hope will be a series of meetings that lead in a year's time to an agreement on the creation of a Palestinian state."

Arab News: Little hope of peace as talks begin in US "A top Palestinian official said Wednesday any resumption of Israeli settlement construction would spell the end of the peace talks. “The settlements must be halted and continuing them will signal the end of the peace process,” Palestinian spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told journalists. He was speaking after Netanyahu said there was no change in Israel’s position on ending the 10-month freeze on settlement construction."

Middle East Peace Talks: Déjà Vu all over again all over again "...When you got 98% or even 88% of what you wanted, did you walk away and start a war… okay, just walk away? And if you did, why did you do that … when you were so close to making a deal? You could obviously hang around in negotiations and get most, if not all, of what you wanted.
"Well, the answer is — no fair peeking — because you never wanted the deal in the first place."  Roger L Simon, Pajamas Media

Time pre-blames Israel for coming peace talks failure Time Magazine, whose politics, the head of our prep school history department used to tell us, were "as red as its cover," has decided to put the slam on Israel and Israelis in a carefully slanted article entitled "Why Israel Doesn't Care About Peace."

Lofty words, little hope  "Neither Netanyahu nor Abbas will arrive at the event overly cheerful; in any case they were dragged there involuntarily, just because the Obama Administration decided that September 26 is a date that cannot be reached without eliciting some agreement between the sides regarding the settlement construction freeze."   Yitzhak Benhorin, YNet News. Via Watching America

‘Direct Talks May ‘Make or Break’ Obama "...no one outside of the American government expresses optimism.
"“Obama realizes that he is unable to do anything and that his invitation for direct talks will turn out to be nothing more than a public relations campaign,' Ghazi Rababaa, political science professor at the University of Jordan, told the German Press Agency DPA. "The U.S. president's real objective behind calling direct talks at this juncture is to improve his Democratic Party's chances in the coming congressional elections and to prop up his retreating popularity.” " Arutz Sheva, Israel National News

Ramallah, A new heroic operation against Zionist settlers "Al Qassam website – Ezzedeen Al Qassam Brigades fullfill its series of promises by carrying out a new heroic operation against hatefull Zionist settlers in West Bank. On Wednesday, 1st of September ,Al Qassam members in the West Bank opened fire on a car driving near the illegal settlement of Kochav Hashachar and east of the West Bank city of Ramallah, at 11p.m."

Story and photos of heroic HAMAS victory from the HAMAS website.

Hamas' new methods: Multiple small attacks by unknown imported terrorists  "The problem is that Israel's leaders, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Gaby Ashkenazi oppose reinstalling the checkpoints and roadblocks for as long as the US-sponsored talks with the Palestinians continue.
"Hamas' tacticians are fully aware of Israel's diplomatic constraints and exploiting them to the full, ordering their terror squads to keep going in the hope of sabotaging the negotiations."

Cantor: Beware of the Obama tax increases

Eric Cantor "Already grappling with weak demand for goods and services, businesses of all sizes have five main costs and expenses that impact their bottom lines. Thanks to the agenda in Washington, all are going up, turning the White House's much-touted "Recovery Summer" into the "Summer of Uncertainty." Here's a look:"...