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This blog consists mostly of common sense responses to happenings (news articles, political events, etc) that just cry out for someone to say "WHOA! Hang on a second, here!" Too many people get away with just inventing their own facts as they bull-rush their way through an argument.

Unless you're dodging a taxicab or sidestepping a falling gargoyle, it's usually wise to take what time is available to evaluate and apply actual common sense. Good, old wisdom. It is, of course, my opinion, but I'll try to show why I think it's factual.
Thomas Paine said, "To argue with someone who has renounced the use of reason is like administering medicine to the dead." ... but I argue with drunks, egomaniacs, anti-gun Statists, Socialist/Keynesians and climate-fraud peddlers, too.

**PLEASE share this around. I didn't research, consider, write and post this junk just to have it hidden.
And feel free to comment.**






CONTACT SophosArchaeus: eMail at sophosarchaeus@hushmail.com
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Though Americans are fully able to end a fight, that is a last-resort, defense-only option.
If you're here for such crap, get the hell off my page!]


Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Funny “give” and “take” - - and WWRHD?

We see some funny word usage these days.  Not kid’s jargon or some techno-lexicon.  I mean political Leftspeak. Much is obvious, such as when the current President says anything about “making Progress or that he will “considerRepublican  proposals.  Some is more obscure.

Let’s leave “journalist” (i.e. anti-American/hacker/extortionist/anarcho-Socialist/terrorist) DeRange (or LeStrange or whatever his name is) for another day.  Lots of double-talk among far-"right" anarchists that conveniently destabilize democracies for the picking of  far left Socialists.

We see “Liberation Churches” and allied Socialist (therefore Atheist) sponsored “Spiritual” centers and programs.  Black Liberation Theology (their name, not mine) is: God wants people to be heavily taxed and the wealth distributed subjectively by government, and whites (regardless of individual history) must “give everything” in reparations for slavery and can only be saved collectively.   That would be the profane “Reverend” Jeremiah Wright and Obama’s current “spiritual advisors” (how many Presidents have had a whole squad of them, like Emperor Palpatine’s Dark-Side viziers?).  For the record, I do not believe the PotUS is a Muslim.  In fact, Obama professed his “collective salvation” in several speeches this fall.  My humble opinion is that he simply favors Islam (of any sort) over ‘Christianity of the past’, but is just as devout as his "Christian" advisers

advisor “Reverend” Jim Wallis founded Progressive Socialist Sojourner magazine.  Asked if he favored “redistribution of wealth [Marxism] in society” under B.L.T. he responded, “Absolutely, without any hesitation. That's what the gospel is all about.”  I missed those verses somehow; were they in red?  That’s what Jesus would do?  I seem to recall him giving tax collectors and usurers a hard time, even as he strove to save them, individually.

Next is “Reverend” Otis Moss Jr, who preaches LT like Wright.  Then stridently (and pitifully) self-hating “Father” Michael Pfleger, also pushing LT like “Reverend” Kirbyjon Caldwell (who plays all sides to favor Socialism) and “Bishop” T.D. Jakes (T.D. Jakes Ministries, Inc: CD sets on sale this week and soliciting corporate partners) to round out the crew – er, conclave.  All of them generally (mis)invoke the Bible, God or Jesus only when pinned down, preferring the vaguer “spiritual”, “moral”, “ethical”, “compassionate”, etc.

This high-sounding vagueness (with no mention of God at all) is the dialect of Socialist moral-tweaking frauds; just sounding like churches.  ‘Why are you such an immoral, racist hater, that you would deny the spiritual basics of ethical life to children?!?’  They pretty much just extort money by guilt and divert it to leftist groups that abuse/ridicule/sabotage anything Constitutional, values-oriented or American.  Then, if you delete the pseudo-spirituality altogether and begin the (rather pitiful) insultingmagic sky-god” stuff, you get mainstream “Sojourner” fodder*. 

After 2 years with Progressive super majorities and the White House spending like 40 previous Presidents combined, we find ourselves with a (really, really) lame duck congress.  They did not bother to draft an annual budget or settle extensions to avoid massive, across-the-board tax increases until now.  Never mind that they are (still under Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi) dithering over DREAM amnesty bills, protect Vegas poker gaming, attacking the 1st Amendment, debating giving Russia our defense plans, finally wrapping up Rangel’s guilt and posturing over Don’t Ask Don’t Tell in the few days before adjournment.   

As to the Income, Inheritance, Capital Gains, and other taxes (listed, with a leftist bias [ignoring that their lowest beneficiaries PAY NO INCOME TAX TO START WITH] HERE) that will skyrocket for everyone unless Bush’s cuts are extended, let’s see what Speaker Pelosi says.  She declares that every unemployment dollar "creates jobs" and “pays back 2 to 1”.  That is, people will spend their (2 full years of) unemployment checks (that we pay for) on the basic bills they have always paid, somehow pumping up the economy above normal and cutting unemployment.  On the other hand, Nancyspeak is that “giving billions to the rich” (employers and investors that are chomping at the bit for opportunities to hire or invest to get richer; already paying 90% of all taxes while 47% pay none) would do nothing for the economy.  Really? All of history is wrong?  And “GIVING?  Excuse me; aren’t we arguing about how much government will take away from the earners?  Actually that’s incorrect; it’s how much more will be taken from them.

Pelosi continues that she won’t allow an extension “unless it includes a cut for middle class”.  Hmm.  Only Nancy’s bill would exclude anyone; Republicans incessantly say to “cut everyone’s taxes”.  Her imaginary, class-warfare-conservatives are “holding the middle class hostage”.   They also somehow forced “$90 billion (bailout)” past the Dem’s supermajority for rich bankers, “and now they want tax breaks…after all they put us through?”   Wow.

She repeats this mantra, trying to make it come true: ‘mmm, investors don’t want to invest,  mmm, unemployment creates jobs, mmm, employers don’t want to employ, mmm, spending lowers the debt,  mmm, success is evil,’ etc.  She adds that the 5 million jobs Dems destroyed over 2 years somehow “created more jobs than the entire 8 years of the Bush administration” and that they saved “values, veterans, the Heartland, the auto industry”, unicorns and the Golden Fleece along the way.  Progressive congressmen parrot Nancy’s, “give $900 billion ($700B last week) to the rich”, Leftspeaking that “Americans agree with us”.  This is from polls that showed  (3 separate questions) more favor breaks for ‘just the poor’ than ‘just the rich’, but 66% favor “cut everyone’s taxes”.

Obama double-Left-speeched on Dec 6 and 7.  To him, jihadist, mass-murdering terrorists don’t exist, but Republicans that negotiated with him are “hostage takers” that “have harmed the hostages”.  With an eye to his own re-election**, he admitted that “to stabilize the economy” he had to extend the Bush tax cuts for everyone (breaking his promise to punish the rich).  But he also claimed that any improvement in jobs or the economy would be because of his already-failed stimulus and extending unemployment.  He also admitted that Socialist “purists” might let the extensions lapse (creating massive hardships), then institute reductions next year that could be called “Obama tax cuts”.  He reminded his “sanctimonious” Progressives that they need to get what they can this year and keep usurping power into the future as they always have.  The Left responded by threatening to let the tax cuts expire, adding, “You’re another one!” [my summary].  They are irate that many successful people might go unpunished and keep some of their money.

Finally, since we’re in la-la land, let’s revisit the Leftspeak argument for their open hatred of (and now-admitted goal of looting) the rich**: Robin Hood.  He stole from the rich and gave to the poor, right?  Actually, the conglomerate figure (11th-12th cent) that was Robin o’ the Hood, led resistance against usurping government that insulted, over regulated and overtaxed the people; he stole from abusive tax collectors [not recommended present day] and returned the money to those that earned it, letting them take care of each other in genuine charity.

Seems that What Robin Hood Would Do is closer to What Jesus Would Do than what Socialists Would Like To Get Away With.



*Worshiping the rock we live on rather than the "sudden, infinite release of energy" (with no physical source) that virtually all scientists now credit with the act of creation of everything.
** Trying (a la the 1998 'trust me, I'm no Socialist' campaign and not to be confused with actual movement away from the extreme Left) to look sensible and capable for his own benefit, as Soros et all call for his replacement (interesting talk for a foreigner who "is just into finance" and not globalization).  Forced into his true persona by the pressure, he actually promises more Progressive Socialization and specifically raising taxes in 2012.
 ***Excluding of course, Hypocrite-Socialist billionaires Warren Buffet, George Soros, etc.  They loudly proclaim that the rich should "give much more" to government programs for the poor (than they already do).  When they are told (over and over) that the government accepts donations from any that choose to give, they suddenly only speak Sanscrit or suffer from spontaneous deafness.  Given the same opportunities to support charities, mere millionaires usually out-give them to help the truly less fortunate.  Soros, of course gives millions every year; to anti-American Socialist groups and campaigns that destabilize economies (which he eventually collapses to profit from in money markets).

Monday, December 6, 2010

Meh, 'unusual methods', 'creative accounting', shenanigans, fraud, LYING TO THE SOVEREIGN AMERICAN PEOPLE?

Below is a direct reprint from the Washington Post web site (as printed in several other newspapers).  Other than capturing some background links under the by-line, it is copied as published, including the author's text source links.  He doesn't need any help from me in getting this point across.
~SophosArchaeus


Unusual methods helped ICE break deportation record, e-mails and interviews show
[Thanks to WashingtonPost.com]


By Andrew Becker
Center for Investigative Reporting
Monday, December 6, 2010; 12:08 AM
For much of this year, the Obama administration touted its tougher-than-ever approach to immigration enforcement, culminating in a record number of deportations.
But in reaching 392,862 deportations, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement included more than 19,000 immigrants who had exited the previous fiscal year, according to agency statistics. ICE also ran a Mexican repatriation program five weeks longer than ever before, allowing the agency to count at least 6,500 exits that, without the program, would normally have been tallied by the U.S. Border Patrol.
When ICE officials realized in the final weeks of the fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, that the agency still was in jeopardy of falling short of last year's mark, it scrambled to reach the goal. Officials quietly directed immigration officers to bypass backlogged immigration courts and time-consuming deportation hearings whenever possible, internal e-mails and interviews show.
Instead, officials told immigration officers to encourage eligible foreign nationals to accept a quick pass to their countries without a negative mark on their immigration record, ICE employees said.
The option, known as voluntary return, may have allowed hundreds of immigrants - who typically would have gone before an immigration judge to contest deportation for offenses such as drunken driving, domestic violence and misdemeanor assault - to leave the country. A voluntary return doesn't bar a foreigner from applying for legal residence or traveling to the United States in the future.
Once the agency closed the books for fiscal 2010 and the record was broken, agents say they were told to stop widely offering the voluntary return option and revert to business as usual.
Without these efforts and the more than 25,000 deportations that came with them, the agency would not have topped last year's record level of 389,834, current and former ICE employees and officials said.
The Obama administration was intent on doing so even as it came under attack by some Republicans for not being tough enough on immigration enforcement and by some Democrats for failing to deliver on promises of comprehensive immigration reform.
"It's not unusual for any administration to get the numbers they need by reaching into their bag of tricks to boost figures," said Neil Clark, who retired as the Seattle field office director in late June, adding that in the 12 years he spent in management he saw the Bush and Clinton administrations do similar things.
But at a news conference Oct. 6, ICE Director John T. Morton said that no unusual practices were used to break the previous year's mark.
"When the secretary tells you that the numbers are at an all-time high, that's straight, on the merits, no cooking of the books," Morton said, referring to his boss, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano. "It's what happened."
ICE declined to make any officials available for interviews. In selected responses to e-mailed questions, spokesman Brian P. Hale wrote that the agency did nothing different from previous years but did not deny that ICE had focused on voluntary returns when it faced a shortfall weeks before the fiscal year ended. Rather, field offices were reminded of the voluntary return option, he said.
"ICE offered eligible aliens . . . the opportunity to accept voluntary return," Hale said. "The decision to accept VR [voluntary return] was the aliens'."
Those efforts did not appear to result in a spike in voluntary returns. Statistics provided by ICE show that voluntary returns peaked at 8,960 in June, before dipping and then leveling off in the last two months of the fiscal year. A total of 64,876 immigrants were voluntarily returned to their home countries in 2010.
Chris Crane, president of the American Federation of Government Employees National Council 118, the union that represents ICE immigration agents and officers, said offering voluntary return was not common practice for the agency. The union has been at odds with Morton over what it calls lax enforcement and gave him a no-confidence vote in June.
"It's breaking the rules to break the record," Crane said. "You don't change the way you do business to meet some quota. Morton said we don't do quotas. But that's what this is."
New accounting

On Oct. 1 - the start of fiscal 2011 - Robin F. Baker, an acting ICE assistant director, cheered field directors on to the finish line in an e-mail obtained by the Center for Investigative Reporting.
"We are just 1061 shy of 390,000. However, we still get to count closed cases through Monday, October 4th so . . . keep having your folks concentrate on closing those cases," Baker wrote.
Starting in 2009, ICE began to shut its books for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 in the first few days of October. Any deportations that take place in one fiscal year but are confirmed after Oct. 5 are added to the next fiscal year's statistics.
Based on the new accounting approach, the agency counted 19,422 removals from 2009 in the 2010 statistics. In 2010 itself, 373,440 other people were deported.
Current and former ICE employees also point to an expanded U.S.-Mexico partnership as another way the agency increased overall deportation numbers.
Known as the Mexican Interior Repatriation Program, the bilateral effort between the U.S. and Mexican governments focuses on reducing the deaths of migrants attempting to cross the border during the scorching Arizona summer. Mexicans caught by Border Patrol agents in the Sonoran Desert region and southern Arizona are turned over to ICE agents, who carry out the removals to Mexico.
In a February memo, James M. Chaparro, ICE's head of enforcement and removal operations, called on field directors to "maximize" participation in the program, which he outlined as one of the ways to increase removals and "move us into position to meet or exceed the fiscal year goals."
Since its launch in 2004, the program had never started earlier than July 7. This year, the first flight full of Mexicans departed June 1. By starting in June, ICE tallied 6,527 returns that in the past would have been handled - and counted - by the U.S. Border Patrol. Overall, a record 23,384 Mexicans between June and September accepted flights back to Mexico City, and then a bus ticket to their home town, at a cost of almost $15 million.
ICE spokesman Hale said the agency started the program early because of available funds and a timely agreement between the United States and Mexico. He acknowledged that some of the immigrants removed through the program were caught or detained hundreds of miles from Arizona.
Select individuals from west Texas were offered an opportunity to volunteer for safe return to their place of origin in the interior of Mexico," Hale said.
He also confirmed that Mexican nationals detained near Seattle - possibly as many as 500 immigrants, according to one local officer - were also included on the flights.
A year-end scramble

The surge to break the deportation record in the final weeks of the fiscal year consumed the agency, said a high-ranking immigration official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the person wasn't authorized to discuss the matter publicly.
"They had everyone burning the candle at both ends to reach 390,000," the official said. "They were basically saying anything you can do to increase the overall removal number, that's what you should do - over everything else."
lIn the Seattle area, immigration officers were instructed to give the voluntary return option to immigrants who did not face mandatory detention and didn't have attorneys.
lIn the Atlanta area, ICE officers were told to persuade immigrants who had already asked to see an immigration judge to instead voluntarily leave the country.
lIn Chicago, officers were told to stop releasing eligible immigrants and monitoring them with electronic ankle bracelets, which might spur more to accept voluntary removals, according to a Sept. 22 e-mail.
"Due to our increase in funding for detention for the remainder of the fiscal year, do not release anyone on an order of recognizance at this time," James McPeek, an assistant field office director in Chicago, wrote in the e-mail to employees. "Another option is to offer a VR [voluntary return] and keep in custody - this will increase our removal numbers for the fiscal year."
An ICE employee in Louisiana, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, estimated that over a two-week period at least 100 to 150 Mexican nationals, some of whom had multiple drunken driving convictions, had their court cases reassigned as voluntary return, which was not common practice. ICE agents elsewhere reported similar numbers.
Several ICE employees said, however, that once the fiscal year ended, their offices reverted to infrequently offering the return option. In the Pacific Northwest, some employees received an e-mail stating just that.
"Effective immediately: do not offer V/Rs [voluntary returns] to aliens who have been convicted of or are pending DUI," ICE supervisor Elizabeth Godfrey wrote Oct. 4.
ICE's goal for 2011 is to remove 404,000 immigrants.
Andrew Becker is a reporter for the Center for Investigative Reporting. He can be reached at abecker@cironline.org.