Lindsey Graham called Mexico a "hellhole"

"The people coming across the southern border live in hellholes. They don’t like that. They want to come here. Our problem is we can’t have everybody in the world who lives in a hellhole come to America."

POWERLINE: READ MORE

Democrats trying to criminalize citizen journalism

By: Mark Hemingway
Commentary Staff Writer
12/03/09 5:10 PM EST

An amendment to a bill currently being considered by the Senate would deny ordinary citizens doing vital investigations in the public interest the same legal protections as professional journalists. If it were to become law, the change could significantly stifle important citizen journalism efforts similar to the recent ACORN expose.

The Senate is currently considering a new press shield law sponsored by Sen. Arlen Specter, D-Pa. The bill would "maintain the free flow of information to the public by providing conditions for the federally compelled disclosure of information by certain persons connected with the news media." Except that Sen. Diane Feinstein, D-Cal., and Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., want to ensure that any new journalistic protections would only apply to professional journalists and not regular citizens. An amendment filed by Durbin and Feinstein would modify the legislation to define journalists thusly:

AMENDMENTS intended to be proposed by Mrs. FEINSTEIN (for herself and Mr. DURBIN)

Viz:

In section 10(2)(A), strike clause (iii) and insert the following:

(iii) obtains the information sought while working as a salaried employee of, or independent contractor for, an entity—

(I) that disseminates information by print, broadcast, cable, satellite, mechanical, photographic, electronic, 1or other means; and

(II) that—

(aa) publishes a newspaper, book, magazine, or other periodical;

(bb) operates a radio or television broadcast station, network, cable system, or satellite carrier, or a channel or programming service for any such station, network, system, or carrier;

(cc) operates a programming service; or

(dd) operates a news agency or wire service;

In section 10(2)(B), strike ‘‘and’’ at the end.

In section 10(2)(C), strike the period at the end and insert ‘‘; and’’.

In section 10(2), add at the end the following:

(D) does not include an individual who gathers or disseminates the protected information sought to be compelled anonymously or under a pseudonym.

While the ACORN story has stung congressional Democrats and pointed out the deficiencies of the mainstream media, there's no basis for Durbin and Feinstein's amendment that seems anything other than vindictive or an attempt to protect the powerful. It's telling that bloggers on both the left and the right are in total agreement this is very bad law.

www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/blogs/beltway-confidential/Democrats-trying-to-criminalize-citizen-journalism-78461812.html

Will Obama, McCain, Dodd Return Contributions From AIG Employees?

According to the Center for Responsive Politics, which tracks campaign finance reports, more than $120,000 of that money was donated after AIG received its first $85 billion in federal bailout funds in September...This raises two key questions: Was any bailout money used to make political contributions? And will the politicians who received AIG cash give the money back?

1. Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., $103,100
2. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., $101,332
3. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., $59,499
4. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., $35,965
5. Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., $24,750
6. Former Gov. Mitt Romney, (R) Pres $20,850
7. Sen. Joe Biden, D-Del., $19,975
8. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn, $19,750
9. Sen. John Sununu, R-N.H., $18,500
10. Former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani (R) Pres $13,200
11. Rep. Paul Kanjorski, D-Pa., $12,000
12. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., $11,000

This is just a big taxpayer-funded orgy of politicians raping the public...except that most Republicans (except for 3) did NOT vote for the stimulus!

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is...

...March 6. Albuquerque, New Mexico:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=3gowJMAUJVk

Will Harry Potter lose his head?

Officers tell of daily attacks by al Qaeda inmates against U.S. military personnel, who are ordered not to respond. The officers have also been ordered to fulfill the religious, cultural and even entertainment needs of the inmates, including providing Arabic translations of Harry Potter.

Ahmed Shablool writing for Arab World Books explains this apparently strange confluence:

The Eastern Influence in Harry Potter

According to the Concise Arabic Encyclopedia, Alexandria was the home of the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Immortality that transform base metals into precious ones, namely gold, and brings back youth. This old art originated in Egypt, others say in China, in the third or fifth century BC. It is associated with astrology and magic. It was called old chemistry, or alchemy, and reached the Arabs in the eighth century to stay with them until the 12th century. It was then transferred to Europe through the translation of the works of famous Arab chemists like Khaled bin Yazid, Jaber bin Hayan, ThouNoon AL-Masri, Al-Tughraei, Zakariya Al-Razi, and others. Symbolism characterized this science-art throughout the Middle Ages, and it was shrouded in secrecy.

The rulers of Islam were fond of chemistry, up to the extent that some sacrificed their lives in the quest of more knowledge in this field.

This is how the Philosopher's Stone's existence came to life in Roling’s novel, emanating from the imaginations of the Arab scientists of old, especially those who practiced alchemy and who spoke about their art in terms shrouded in mystery, symbols and magic. Roling did an excellent job in using these ideas, fascinating children and adults alike with her broad imagination and her impressive knowledge of the Middle Ages and antiquity, especially Egyptian, Arabic and Islamic history, or the history of the East in general, although she never mentioned it in the first part of the series. In fact she did not need to. The melting of sources and references in the structure of the novel is an indication of the professionalism of the author.

We can also say that the author benefited greatly from the stories of Moses and his encounter with the Egyptian magicians who converted their wands into snakes and serpents as stated in the Holy Quran. It is difficult to judge whether Roling read the Holy Quran, however similar stories exist in the Old and New Testaments. But we may see that the usage and training to use the magic wands are a manifestation of Eastern influence through Eastern myths and the three major religions.

Dick Durbin must have had British auther J. K. Roling in mind:
Gitmo called death camp

The Senate's No. 2 Democrat has compared the U.S. military's treatment of a suspected al Qaeda terrorist at the U.S. prison at Guantanamo Bay with the regimes of Adolf Hitler, Josef Stalin and Pol Pot, three of history's most heinous dictators, whose regimes killed millions.

Mr. Durbin also likened the treatment of terror suspects at the prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq to President Franklin D. Roosevelt's decision to authorize the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II.