Wednesday, December 9, 2009

Wednesday December 9 -- Got news or an update?

If you have news or an update, leave it in comments.
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65 comments:

Anonymous said...

Fistgate II: High School Students Given “Fisting Kits” At Kevin Jennings’ GLSEN Conference (GatewayPundit)

In March 2000 the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN) organization of Massachusetts held its 10 Year Anniversary GLSEN/Boston conference at Tufts University.

This conference was fully supported by the Massachusetts Department of Education, the Safe Schools Program, the Governor’s Commission on Gay and Lesbian Youth, and some of the presenters even received federal money.

During the 2000 conference, workshop leaders led a “youth only, ages 14-21″ session that offered lessons in “fisting” a dangerous sexual practice.

During another workshop an activist asked 14 year-old students, “Spit or swallow?… Is it rude?” The unbelievable audio clip is posted here.

Barack Obama’s “Safe Schools Czar” Kevin Jennings is the founder of GLSEN. He was paid $273,573.96 as its executive director in 2007.

Jennings was the keynote speaker at the 2000 GLSEN conference.
Unfortunately for GLSEN, undercover journalists with Mass Resistance recorded these outrageous sessions.

The audio was later leaked to a local radio station. This created such an uproar that GLSEN leaders were forced to apologize for their disgusting behavior.

Thanks to Soros-linked Media Matters we now know that GLSEN director, and current Obama Safe Schools Czar, Kevin Jennings was confronted on the vile content discussed at the children’s conference.

“Like the Parents Rights Coalition and the Department of Education, GLSEN is also troubled by some of the content that came up during this workshop,” said Kevin Jennings, national executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.

He said people who run workshops in the future will get clearer guidelines, though Jennings said the network’s annual conference at Tufts University should not be judged on the 30-student seminar

“What They Didn’t Tell You About Queer Sex and Sexuality in Health Class.”

“We need to make our expectations and guidelines to outside facilitators much more clear,” said Jennings.

“Because we are surprised and troubled by some of the accounts we’ve heard.”

But despite Media Matters’ claims, Kevin Jennings and his GLSEN organization did nothing to clean up their act.

In fact in 2001 activists handed out “fisting kits” to the children and teachers who attended the GLSEN conference.

That’s correct. Fisting kits.

Photo: This kit for fisting was distributed by Planned Parenthood at Fistgate II. (Mass News)

At Kevin Jennings’ 2001 GLSEN Conference an estimated 400 student attendees were given their own “fisting kit.”

Mass News reported on the 2001 conference:

Fistgate II was held on Saturday in the same building at Tufts University as last year with the same message about how to practice homosexual sex.

More students attended this year. Out of approximately 650 attendees, about 400 of those were students.

Kits of plastic gloves intended for “fisting” or oral sex were distributed at Planned Parenthood’s table in the lobby.

Public funds were used for the event with at least two school buses being used to transport students, from Methuen High School and Marblehead Public Schools.

Anonymous said...

Obama's buggery czar: Jennings' group made sex between children and adults look normal (Washington Times)

The media is trying to keep this story in the closet, but it's important not to wink at all the serious problems surrounding President Obama's controversial "safe schools czar," Kevin Jennings.

Mr. Jennings is the moral malefactor who gave a speech about how he merely advised a 15-year-old high-school sophomore who was having sex with an older man that, "I hope you knew to use a condom."

He knew the boy had met the adult in a bus-station restroom. Mr. Jennings also expressed admiration for Harry Hay, a notorious and extremely prominent supporter of the North American Man Boy Love Association.

"One of the people that's always inspired me is Harry Hay," he said. Despite numerous requests to the Obama administration and Mr. Jennings, we have not received any answers to inquiries about these troubling issues.

Now revelations have surfaced that Mr. Jennings not only thought there was nothing wrong with boys having sex with older men (or girls having sex with older women), but he also played a role in promoting such relationships. . . .

Anonymous said...

School Supplies Now Distributed With Obama Logo(GatewayPundit)

Missouri parents were upset to see “Change We Can Believe In” notebooks and pencils distributed at the elementary schools.

The distribution company Pencil Wholesale says the design was “a total accident.”

Yeah, right.

Missouri parents and teachers were outraged after discovering that “Obama notebooks and pencils” were being distributed at Columbia schools.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reported: Pencils and notebooks resembling President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign ads have been sold in at least one Columbia school and other public schools, causing the company that distributes the materials to travel around the state yanking the supplies out of machines.

“Don’t be mad at us,” said Greg Jones, a sales representative with Pencil Wholesale. “It was a total accident.”

Pencil Wholesale distributes supplies to six Columbia schools: Parkade Elementary, Cedar Ridge Elementary, Paxton Keeley Elementary, Mill Creek Elementary, Smithton Middle School and Hickman High School, said Linda Quinley, the district’s chief financial officer.

At Mill Creek, at least one pencil and a notebook with designs similar to Obama campaign advertisements have been sold out of a supply machine. Two families have complained about the politically tinged materials.

Three Missouri schools have contacted Jones since the beginning of the school year asking that the materials be removed, and Mill Creek Principal Mary Sue Gibson this week said she also planned to call Pencil Wholesale.

“I just don’t want to get into that political arena at all,” she said.

The bound three-ring notebook bears a photo of literal change — pennies, quarters, dimes and nickels stacked into piles.

Above the photo, white text reads “CHANGE” over a navy background.

Below the photo, “WE CAN BELIEVE IN” sits above a logo similar to Obama’s campaign image — three red stripes separated by white stripes in front of a white circle with a blue background arching over the circle.

The supplies were designed by the art department of Harcourt Pencil Co., based in Milroy, Ind., Jones said.

“The art department was trying to be cutesy,” he said.

Anonymous said...

Obama health 'czar' worked at legally troubled health firms (Washington Times)

Nancy-Ann DeParle, one of President Obama's chief advocates for the health care reform bill wending its way through Congress, earned more than $6.6 million as a paid director for health care firms, some of which were targeted in government investigations or whistleblower lawsuits on suspicions of billing fraud and other legal problems.

Anonymous said...

ON THE ATTACK: Gibbs slammed Gallup's daily tracking poll (POLITICO)

ON THE ATTACK: Gibbs slammed Gallup's daily tracking poll that showed Obama's approval at the lowest point at this stage of any presidency since Truman's.

"I'm sure a six-year old with a crayon" could do the same thing, he said of Gallup, labeling it "the EKG that is the Gallup trend" and calling it "meaningless." And that's the news. (10:04 a.m.)


I went to the supposed... most transparent government of Obama web page and I may be viewing their WH web page wrong but it looks like they are sorely behind in reporting the Gibbs transcripts.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/press-briefings

Anonymous said...

Obama's 47 Percent Approval Lowest of Any President at This Point
(Fox News)

President Obama's job approval rating has fallen to 47 percent in the latest Gallup poll, the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term.

The new low comes as Obama enters the home stretch in his push to enact his signature initiative, an overhaul of the nation's health care system, and escalates America's involvement in the Afghanistan war.

Below are comparable ratings for other presidents since Gallup began taking presidential approval polls in 1938:

•George W. Bush, 86 percent
•Bill Clinton, 52 percent
•George H.W. Bush, 71 percent
•Ronald Reagan, 49 percent
•Jimmy Carter, 57 percent
•Gerald Ford, 52 percent
•Richard Nixon, 59 percent
•Lyndon Johnson, 74 percent
•John Kennedy, 77 percent
•Dwight Eisenhower, 69 percent
•Harry Truman, 49 percent

Anonymous said...

The Worst President Ever? (Sky News UK)

The White House has tried to dismiss the quite extraordinary results of a new poll on Barack Obama’s approval ratings. Maybe they shouldn’t be so quick.

The Gallup figures show Obama’s rating now stands at 47 per cent – the lowest ever recorded for any president at this point in his term of office.

With Obama fighting to persuade America on healthcare, climate change and the war in Afghanistan you would think this would be cause for concern.

So what was the response of press secretary Robert Gibbs? “If I was heart patient and Gallup was my ECG, I’d get another doctor.

Anonymous said...

...Only 26% Of U.S. Voters Say He Deserves Nobel Prize (Quinnipiac) (Quinnipiac University)

(snip)

The jump in public support for Obama's war policy comes as voters say 66 - 26 percent he does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize he will be awarded this week, and 41 percent say the Nobel committee's choice of Obama for the award causes them to think less of it, while 6 percent say it makes them think better of the prize and 49 percent say it makes no difference.

(snip)

"It's probably a good thing for President Obama that the time difference from Norway means the Nobel presentation will occur while most Americans are sleeping and might get less coverage in the United States," Brown added.

"Two out of three Americans don't think he deserves it compared to the quarter who do.

Even among Democrats, only 49 percent think he deserves it, compared to 8 percent of Republicans and 19 percent of independent voters.

As is the case with many questions related to the President there are wide gender and racial gaps."
Among women, 31 percent think Obama deserves the award, compared to only 19 percent of men. Seventy-three percent of blacks, 29 percent of Hispanics and 18 percent of whites think so.

Anonymous said...

Rep. Wilson Was Right: Obama DID Lie! (Center for Individual Freedom)

Turns out Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC) was right when he yelled "YOU LIE!" after Obama said illigal immigrants would not be covered under the health care reform bill.

BOTH the House and Senate versions of the legislation fail to prohibit illegal immigrants from getting taxpayer-funded health coverage.

An estimate by the Center for Immigration Studies suggests that about 1 million illegal aliens could obtain health insurance coverage.

Anonymous said...

Killing jobs, Obama-style (The Washington Times)

The president admits that green policies hurt business.

The Obama administration used last week's jobs summit to promote policies the president admits will kill jobs.

In case no one in the White House has noticed, unemployment has become a bit of a pressing issue.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of jobs lost in 2009 far surpasses the number in any other year since World War II.

More than 3 million jobs have evaporated into the ozone layer since President Obama took office.

Everything the administration is doing threatens to dig that hole deeper. Mr. Obama has never hidden his anti-business agenda.

When running for president last year, he told a group of journalists at the San Francisco Chronicle: "We would put a cap-and-trade system in place that is aggressive if not more aggressive than anybody else's that is out there.

I was the first to call for a 100 percent auction on the cap-and-trade system. ... So if somebody wants to build a power plant, they can; it's just that it will bankrupt them because they're going to be charged a huge sum for all the greenhouse gas that is being emitted."

Anonymous said...

Obama Pitches Jobs Program, Points Finger at GOP for Economic Mess (foxnews.com) Democrats have run the place since 2006. 0bama0 voted for all the programs. Facts are facts.

President Obama used his speech rolling out a stimulus-style jobs program Tuesday to point the finger at Republicans for allegedly facilitating the economic crisis and then foisting it off on his administration to solve.

While praising his own team for pioneering "ambitious" financial reform and "sweeping" economic recovery initiatives, the president took some pointed shots at Republicans who are now blasting the latest package as a spend-crazy "stimulus two" that will drill deeper into the deficit.


What? The man who’s never had a job? The kiddy car senator? The community organizer? The only candidate (for president or VP last year) that had virtually no grownup experience?

Nah......couldn’t be. “Bush’s Fault” ... day 323.

Anonymous said...

Obama: King of All Statists(Beats FDR in hiring only 10% in cabinent that ever held real jobs) (Canada Free Press)

Almost 40% of William Howard Taft’s cabinet officials were from the private sector.

Ike had nearly 60% of his appointees sporting private sector experience.

Reagan had about 55% and George W. Bush about 53%.

Even FDR and Truman had half their cabinet officials with private sector experience.

And Obama? Less than 10%.

That means that only about 7% of Barack Hussein Obama’s cabinet appointees ever worked in the private sector.

So is it any wonder that Barack Obama has become the president responsible for an unprecedented bloating of the federal government and a take over of power on a scale never before seen?

Remembering that Barack Obama himself never held a real job his whole life the fact that he surrounds himself with government hacks, placemen, and hangerson yet is expected to be the one to fix the private sector economy and, well, we can see why he is failing so miserably.

He has no life experiences to draw on and neither does anyone he’s asked to advise him.

No wonder America is on the fast track to socialism.

Anonymous said...

Bureau of Labor Statistics, U-6 17.0% Sep 09 (Bureau of Labor Statistics)

As of Sep 09 the Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers was 17.0 for Sep 09.

Anonymous said...

Mish: Nov. Jobs Report "Looked Fabricated", Expect Harder Times in 2010 (Yahoo Finance)

From President Obama on down, Americans are hoping Friday's stronger-than-expected November jobs report marked the beginning of the end of our national unemployment nightmare.

Don't get your hopes up, says Mike "Mish" Shedlock, author of Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.

The November report was an "outlier" and "almost looked fabricated," according to Shedlock, an investment advisor at SitkaPacific Capital Management

Anonymous said...

New Obama plans: 'spend our way out' of downturn (AP)

President Barack Obama outlined major new government stimulus and jobs proposals on Tuesday, saying the nation must continue to "spend our way out of this recession."

Without giving a price tag, Obama proposed a package of new spending for highway, bridge and other infrastructure projects, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives to encourage people to make their homes more energy efficient.

Anonymous said...

Covering Up for ACORN (American Spectator)

The newly released "independent" review of the ACORN undercover prostitution video saga is a breathtakingly audacious work of fiction.

There is hardly a word of truth to be found anywhere in the document's 47 pages.

The report unveiled yesterday by former Massachusetts Attorney General Scott Harshbarger is an all-you-can-eat buffet of lies and distortions that faults ACORN only for poor management practices.

No wonder those who organized the news teleconference yesterday kept the event so brief.

The call lasted just 36 minutes, an amazingly brief period considering the level of public interest in ACORN's ongoing scandals and the complexity of the issues involved.

Within that, the question-and-answer session was barely 23 minutes long.

Only five reporters were called upon and four of them lobbed softballs.

One of the so-called reporters was actually politics professor Peter Dreier of Occidental College, a consultant to ACORN who wrote a report blaming the media for the group's woes.

In "First They Came for ACORN," one of Dreier's over-the-top Huffington Post op-eds, the radical academic likened ACORN critics to Nazis.

....the teleconference was abruptly cut off after John Fund of the Wall Street Journal asked a series of tough questions.

Anonymous said...

NYC Council’s new Speaker will be a Black Panther as ACORN/Working Families Party taking over NYC (The Collins Report)

Because rank and file Democrats paid no attention to their Party’s primaries New York City’s next Council Speaker will be Black Panther Charles Barron a racist anti American far Leftist.

This news is scary and concerns every American because what the ACORN/Working Families Party has now done to New York City, it can and WILL do where you live.

This column warned America’s cities would be taken over by the ACORN controlled Working Families Party (WFP).

Last month WFP effectively seized control of the NYC Council and will elect a Black Panther named Charles Barron, as Council Speaker replacing the openly lesbian Christine Quinn.

Anonymous said...

Investigation Request Filed: Unregistered Lobbyist SEIU Treasurer Anna Burger (Americans for Tax Reform)

America’s largest union, the Service Employee International Union (SEIU) is a common utterance within the White House and will be a major player at the December jobs summit.

In 2008 they gave almost $30 million to Obama’s campaign.

SEIU President Andy Stern is the most frequent visitor to the White House according to their visitors’ log. Anna Burger, Treasurer of the SEIU and Chairwoman of their Change to Win campaign has even been appointed to Obama’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board and is scheduled to attend the December jobs summit at the White House.

The problem; until 2007, both Stern and Burger were registered lobbyists until they terminated their status, yet their job duties or descriptions have not changed.

This plus other evidence appears to indicate that both are continuing to lobby without registering and thus are violating federal law (and Obama’s campaign promises).

Anonymous said...

$1 DVD rentals costing (Hollywood) biz $1 bil: study (The Hollywood Reporter)

Falling home video revenue is decreasing jobs, film production
A regional economic group estimates that dollar DVD rentals from Redbox and others has cost the entertainment industry $1 billion and that the "ripple effect" will cost hundreds of millions more.

The Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp. study said the nationwide declines in home video revenue will cause an additional $500 million in losses as more than 9,000 related job cuts wipe out almost $400 million in wages, primarily in Southern California.

The dramatic assessment comes amid growing popularity among recession-wracked consumers of ultracheap disc rentals offered by Redbox and other DVD-kiosk chains.

Three Hollywood studios -- which number among businesses supporting the nonprofit LAEDC -- are engaged in a court battle with Redbox over their efforts to prevent DVD releases from finding their way into Redbox kiosks.

Redbox has sued Universal, Fox and Warner Bros. over what it calls antitrust violations.

The LAEDC said a decline in DVD-rental income caused by the dollar-rentals trend will lead to a decline in film production.

That, in turn, would prompt job cuts and other economic fallout.

Anonymous said...

BDS Alert: Depressing Movies The Fault Of Bush (Flopping Aces)

BDS is still going strong in our MSM. Take for example this article from Newsweek in which the author blames the recent depressing movies coming out of hollywood on you know who: (h/t Big Hollywood)

There are grim movies, and then there are movies that should list the Grim Reaper in the credits.

No Country for Old Men, the 2007 Oscar-winning drama, falls into the latter category, but it's as cuddly as a hamster compared with The Road, the latest adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel.

The Road is set in a post-apocalyptic world where everything and almost everyone is dead. There are no trees, no grass, no sun, no food, and, worst of all, no booze to take the edge off.

The few survivors are sometimes driven to devouring each other.
Our two protagonists are tired, gaunt, and nameless: Man (Viggo Mortensen) and Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee), who spend the movie navigating through these various hazards on their long journey to ... where?

I'm tempted to say it beats the hell out of me, but that may be the answer.

[snip]

You can blame Hollywood's doom and gloom on the Oscars, but I'm not going to.

Instead, I think it's George W. Bush's fault. Most liberal directors felt restless under his presidency, and they pushed the envelope with over-the-top, operatic tragedies.

Anonymous said...

NY Times buyout count gets to 53 (NY Post)

The number of people stepping forward at The New York Times for voluntary severance packages passed the 50 mark late yesterday, but could go higher.

Times economics reporter Edmund Andrews was among those who decided to call it quits.

"They had 53 [volunteers] by 4 p.m. is what I am hearing," said Art Mulford, the unit chairman of the Times Newspaper Guild. The deadline for filing was 5 p.m. yesterday.

Times Executive Editor Bill Keller said Friday in a memo that the company was unlikely to reach the corporate buyout goal of 100 people through volunteers, and that the headcount reduction would be achieved through layoffs
A Times spokeswoman said, "We are not commenting or offering any details on the staff reduction."

Further cuts, if necessary, could start Thursday for non-exempt workers, but could drag out another 10 days for unionized Guild workers.

Anonymous said...

New York Times sees ad revenue dropping 25% (MarketWatch)

New York Times said Tuesday that it expects fourth-quarter advertising revenue to drop 25%.

"While the print advertising market remains very challenging, trends have improved modestly as the quarter progressed," said Janet Robinson, chief executive of New York Times, in a statement.

Online ad revenue is expected to rise by about 10%. For the year, New York Times Co. expects total debt to be about $800 million, down from $1.1 billion at the end of 2008.

Robinson also said the company has completed its strategic review of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and has decided to keep the newspaper.

Anonymous said...

The New York Times Buyout List (Gawker.com) (CPUSA members named)

Today was the deadline for New York Times staffers to take the buyout package that was offered to everyone in October, as the paper seeks to cut 100 newsroom positions this year. The names we know, below. [UPDATED].

Here are the notable names that have reportedly decided to take the buyout. Business reporters, from Silicon Alley Insider:

Louis Uchitelle, who covers economics.

Geraldine Fabrikant, veteran business reporter.

Alex Berenson, who used to cover pharma for the business section but who has lately been focused more on writing novels.

Jonathan Glater, a California-based reporter.

DC reporters, via Michael Calderone:

Stephen Labaton, who's been covering financial regulation and reform.

Neil A. Lewis, DC reporter.

David Johnston, a veteran most recently covering the Ft. Hood shootings.

David Stout, another NYT veteran.

Edmund Andrews, a business reporter in the DC bureau, is also taking the buyout, according to Calderone and Business Insider.

Metro reporters:

Ralph Blumenthal, a Metro reporter, is likely to take the buyout, according to Keith Kelly.

UPDATE: We received this additional list of NYT buyout-takers. This list is unconfirmed, but the source is generally reliable.

Claiborne Ray — Deputy editor of the Obituaries desk and Q&A columnist in Science Times
Nancy Sharkey - Editor; see this link.
Andy Revkin - Science Reporter/Dot Earth. (Described as "possible," not confirmed).
George Kaplan — veteran national desk copy editor
Juliet Gorman — a top web producer
Mary Hardiman - Photo desk
G. Paul Burnett — veteran staff photographer
Jim Simpson - Photo editor
Nicole Collins — A metro editor
Barton Silverman - Veteran Photographer. He's still a "Possible," not confirmed.

Additionally, eight more copy editors from various sections, three "Admin" personnel, and a foreign desk clerk are taking buyouts, according to our source.

UPDATE 2: Tipsters sent us the following additions to the list:

Lonnie Schlein, veteran photo editor and photographer, current photo editor of the Travel section
Jack Curry, sports writer. (The word is out on Twitter here, here, and elsewhere).

Leslie Wayne, veteran business reporter.

Keith Kelly says that the copy desk and the Sports and Metro sections could be primary targets for the layoffs that will have to come to make up the balance of the 100 cuts that need to be made this month.

If you have more info on who's taking the buyouts, email us. We'll update this post.

Send an email to Hamilton Nolan, the author of this post, at Hamilton@gawker.com.

Anonymous said...

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel lays off 39 (The Business Journal of Milwaukee)

Up to 60 Journal employees taking buyouts, Journal Sentinel cutting 10 percent of staff, Journal Sentinel cutting 92 employees
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel laid off 39 non-newsroom employees Monday, citing the continuing economic recession.

The layoffs were in the advertising, circulation and other business departments, publisher Betsy Brenner said in an email to employees on Monday.

Brenner said the cuts were necessary because the company is “battling a tough economy.”

The layoffs will reduce the newspaper’s work force by approximately 3 percent, the newspaper said in a press release Monday afternoon.

The affected employees are expected to leave the company before the end of the year.

The Journal Sentinel will record a pre-tax work force reduction charge of $600,000 in the fourth quarter.

The newspaper, like others across the daily newspaper industry, has suffered years of declining circulation and advertising revenue.

The Journal Sentinel in August said it was reducing its work force by 92 employees, or 6.2 percent, in a layoff that included 37 voluntary buyout offers that were accepted by newsroom staffers.

Anonymous said...

CBS News Wishes Tomato Thrower Had Hit Sarah Palin in Face

Headline at CBS News: Sarah Palin Almost Gets Tomato in Face, but Jeremy Olsen Has Terrible Aim
Lede:

NEW YORK (CBS) Maybe Jeremy Olson should have practiced with a target first before attempting to pelt Sarah Palin with tomatoes at a book signing in Minn. Dec. 7.

The above was written at the CBS News page CRIMESIDER: The True Crime Destination From the Producers of 48 Hours Mystery

Anonymous said...

Wind Farm Company Shutting Down In CO (Sweetness-Light)

From the Denver, CO NBC affiliate KUSA-TV: Vestas shutting down production for unknown time

WINDSOR – Denmark-based wind-turbine company Vestas plans to temporarily halt production at its Windsor blade manufacturing plant for an unknown period of time in the first part of 2010.

Most, if not all, of its 500 employees at the plant will be placed on furlough during that time. "There will be no layoffs," Vestas spokesman Peter Kruse said.
Vestas has also frozen its hiring process for the two manufacturing plants in Brighton, which remain under construction.

The company had planned to create 1,350 jobs at its Brighton facility by 2010.

"The first quarter historically is always a slow quarter," Kruse said, adding this anticipated dip has been exacerbated by a tight credit market and the relatively low price of gas.

"We’re building up slowly due to the lack of orders," he said. "We would all prefer to make ourselves useful, but that’s impossible."


Aren’t wind farms exactly the kind of ‘green jobs’ that Mr. Obama claimed he would save or create with his stimulus package?

What happened?

"The first quarter historically is always a slow quarter," Kruse said, adding this anticipated dip has been exacerbated by a tight credit market and the relatively low price of gas.

Oh, now we understand. With the cheap price of gas, people aren’t using wind to power their cars now. That explains everything.

Still, if could only we find a way to drive up the price of gasoline, think how much better off the world would be.

Anonymous said...

Woman Who Invented Credit Default Swaps is One of the Key Architects of Carbon Derivatives (Zero Hedge)

I have written hundreds of articles documenting that unregulated, speculative derivatives (especially credit default swaps) are a primary cause of the economic crisis.

And I have pointed out that (1) the giant banks will make a killing on carbon trading, (2) while the leading scientist crusading against global warming says it won't work, and (3) there is a very high probability of massive fraud and insider trading in the carbon trading markets.

Now, Bloomberg notes that the carbon trading scheme will be centered around derivatives:

The banks are preparing to do with carbon what they’ve done before: design and market derivatives contracts that will help client companies hedge their price risk over the long term.

They’re also ready to sell carbon-related financial products to outside investors.

[Blythe] Masters says banks must be allowed to lead the way if a mandatory carbon-trading system is going to help save the planet at the lowest possible cost. And derivatives related to carbon must be part of the mix, she says.

Derivatives are securities whose value is derived from the value of an underlying commodity -- in this case, CO2 and other greenhouse gases...

Who is Blythe Masters? She is the JP Morgan employee who invented credit default swaps, and is now heading JPM's carbon trading efforts.

As Bloomberg notes (this and all remaining quotes are from the above-linked Bloomberg article):

Anonymous said...

Copenhagen climate summit in disarray after 'Danish text' leak (Guardian (UK)

Developing countries react furiously to leaked draft agreement that would hand more power to rich nations, sideline the UN's negotiating role and abandon the Kyoto protocol
The UN Copenhagen climate talks are in disarray today after developing countries reacted furiously to leaked documents that show world leaders will next week be asked to sign an agreement that hands more power to rich countries and sidelines the UN's role in all future climate change negotiations.

The document also sets unequal limits on per capita carbon emissions for developed and developing countries in 2050; meaning that people in rich countries would be permitted to emit nearly twice as much under the proposals.

The so-called Danish text, a secret draft agreement worked on by a group of individuals known as "the circle of commitment" – but understood to include the UK, US and Denmark – has only been shown to a handful of countries since it was finalised this week.

The agreement, leaked to the Guardian, is a departure from the Kyoto protocol's principle that rich nations, which have emitted the bulk of the CO2, should take on firm and binding commitments to reduce greenhouse gases, while poorer nations were not compelled to act.

The draft hands effective control of climate change finance to the World Bank; would abandon the Kyoto protocol – the only legally binding treaty that the world has on emissions reductions; and would make any money to help poor countries adapt to climate change dependent on them taking a range of actions.

The document was described last night by one senior diplomat as "a very dangerous document for developing countries.

Anonymous said...

Climategate: Barack Obama's rule by EPA decree is a coup d'etat against Congress, made in Britain (The Telegraph)

Who needs tanks on the lawn when you have the Environmental Protection Agency?

Barack Obama’s use of the EPA to pressurise the Senate to pass his climate change Nuremberg Decrees shows his dictatorial mentality.

He wants to override Congress, which is hostile to his climate gobbledegook because it is representative of the American electorate, and sideline the nation’s elected Senators by ruling by decree, courtesy of the EPA.

This is a coup d’état.
And what is the justification for this undemocratic action?

The allegedly imminent threat from “Anthropogenic Global Warming”.

There is always a supposed threat, when tyrants take the stage. The President of the United States has just reduced his moral authority to the level of any Third World dictator heading a “Government of National Emergency”.

Fortunately, the world’s leading democracy, which he is trying to subvert, has guarantees of liberty so deeply embedded in its Constitution that US citizens are well placed to fight back.

(snip)

Obama hates America and, increasingly, that sentiment is being reciprocated.

This is a socialist, World Government putsch. Have the American people the resolution to resist it? We shall soon know.

Anonymous said...

Krauthammer: “Environmentalism is the new Socialism…it will regulate every aspect of life” (video)

Krauthammer says, in this video, that if the EPA forces environmentalism on America, as opposed to such action being decided by Congress, there will be a revolution on Obama’s hands.
Either way, it looks as if the country is headed for a fight!

Anonymous said...

Stolen E-Mail, Stoking the Climate Debate (NY TIMES letters to the editor)

..You say: “We here at The Times are not scientists.

We don’t collect the data or analyze it, and so the best we can do is to give our readers a sense of what the prevailing scientific view is, based on interviews with scientists” and the expertise of reporters like Revkin."

Precisely...the NYT picks and chooses what conforms to your opinion.

The NYT has been very biased and has not presented over several years the many differing scientific opinions on man-made global warming.

Science is not a discipline of consensus. You have primarily emphasized one position and clearly minimized or discounted serious opposing views from very credible sources.

You know, there are other credible news sources other than the NYT, and we don't all believe the emperor has new clothes...

Anonymous said...

Climate claims fail science test ...("a farce" James Hansen, grandfather of climate change) (The Australian)

THE UN Climate Change Summit started this week in Copenhagen with far more dissent than its organisers hoped for from two extremes of the climate change debate.

We had the "grandfather of climate change", James Hansen, describing the proceedings as counter-productive and "a farce", while the chief Saudi Arabian negotiator to the summit, Mohammed al-Sabban, doubts the current science and suggests there is no longer any point in seeking agreement to reduce emissions.

It is therefore certain that the global political debate on managing carbon emissions and climate change will continue well beyond the Copenhagen summit.

It is to be hoped that the scientific debate is also permitted to continue.

Results released this year suggest that the degree of scientific certainty falls short of that desirable before we set binding targets and dollar values on carbon emissions.

Indeed, Tim Flannery, chairman of the Copenhagen Climate Council admitted that: "We can't pretend we have perfect knowledge: we don't."

This is a refreshingly honest comment when contrasted with some of the statements in the hacked emails of the Climatic Research Unit, UK, made by leading British and US climate scientists, who were caught with their fingers on the "delete button" when faced with climate data that failed to agree with their computer models.

Meanwhile two recent results published by top scientists cast doubt on the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's theory about the link between atmospheric carbon dioxide and global warming.

These are of of significance because whereas the climate models used by the IPCC rely on software to represent a large number of highly complex Earth processes, these results are equivalent to experimental observations on the Earth itself.

Anonymous said...

The Copenhagen Concoction (WSJ)

...So what exactly is the point of Copenhagen?

The question needs to be asked all the more insistently in the wake of last month's disclosure of thousands of documents and emails from the University of East Anglia's Climatic Research Unit (CRU), long considered an authoritative center of temperature data, modeling and forecasts.

At a minimum, the emails demonstrate the lengths some of the world's leading climate scientists were prepared to go to manufacture the "consensus" they used to demand drastic steps against global warming.

The emails are replete with talk of blacklisting dissenting scientists and journals, manipulating peer review and avoiding freedom of information requests...

Anonymous said...

Wow! The paid anti-Obama, anti-administration, pro-Big Business, pro-Big Insurance lobbyist who posts his/her garbage here every morning has been extra busy this morning. Thanks! You've really earned your pay this morning.

Anonymous said...

PAPER: HILLARY POLLSTER PENN GOT
$6M FROM STIMULUS
@ The Drudge Report

♫ Beat Goes On ♫

and the beat goes on,
and the beat goes on,
and the beat goes on…

Anonymous said...

Re: Mark Penn got $6 million from stimulus

“That must include interest. Hillary only owed him $5.”
Lucianne.com

Anonymous said...

Troll says “posts his/her garbage,” the postings are newspaper articles, and garbage describes the liberal print media perfectly. WOW!

Anonymous said...

Move over Jimmah Carter, your well deserved title as the worst president in history is in jeopardy. Obama is crowding you out in less than a year. Perhaps the two of you can discuss your Noballs Peace Prize instead of listening to the boos from informed voters

Anonymous said...

Famous Weather Scientist: Climate-Gate 'Tip of the Iceberg'

The Colorado scientist described by the Washington Post as "the World's Most Famous Hurricane Expert" says the "ClimateGate" e-mails from the United Kingdom that revealed possible data manipulation are evidence of a conspiracy among "warmists," those who believe man's actions are triggering possibly catastrophic climate change.

"The recent 'ClimateGate' revelations coming out of the UK University of East Anglia are but the tip of a giant iceberg of a well organized international climate warming conspiracy that has been gathering momentum for the last 25 years," said Colorado State University's Dr. William Gray.
By Bob Unruh
WorldNetDaily

Anonymous said...

Bam's whiny blame game-
Is America finally reaching for the "off" button on Bam? [the American people are tuning him out at a stunning pace]
---
-Bam's whiny blame game-
New York Post, by Michael Goodwin

The other day, I wrote that President Obama has "run out of both charm and ideas." I was too kind. To judge from the string of whoppers in his dreary jobs speech yesterday, he's also run out of facts. And he's still whining about the problems he inherited and blaming Republicans. He might as well be barking at the moon. That's sort of what he is doing, because the American people are tuning him out at a stunning pace. The latest Gallup Poll

Via: Lucianne.com

Anonymous said...

I read the “Whiney Obama” article, and this excerpt says it for me as well:
“President Obama has "run out of both charm and ideas."...[snip]… To judge from the string of whoppers in his dreary jobs speech yesterday, he's also run out of facts.”

‘Hope and Change’ quickly changed to ‘Despair and Socialism’ in a hurry.
2010 Vote the Liars Out!

Kevin Gregory said...

Here's the link: Bam's whiny blame game

Anonymous said...

Getting back to corporate crap, this IS Mcclatchy Watch isn't it, all of the smoke and mirrors about "unfreezing wages" and the "perceived" uptick in revenue will only bolster the perception of growth until the last quarter numbers show the truth.

Anonymous said...

Obama's Safe School czar discussion comes with a 'WARNING.'
How disgusting can someone be and still be nominated by our failing president?

EDITORIAL: Obama's risky-sex czar
The Washington Times

WARNING: This editorial includes discussion of topics that are sexually graphic. Under usual circumstances, we would never entertain these subjects or the rancid language involved. In this case, however, a very unusual exception must be made because the issues are central to the background of a senior presidential appointee at the U.S. Department of Education who is in a position to influence how and what our children are taught in our nation's schools. Thus far, out of fear or squeamishness, there has been public hesitance to examine closely the beliefs of this individual because many are afraid even to touch...

Anonymous said...

8:03 AM That has been the pattern for the past 3 years. Strange how McClatchy zombies continue to fall for it even as they are being escorted to the doors in an ongoing basis.

Anonymous said...

So the Fringe Media won’t discuss Jennings because they are too ‘squeamish.’
Excerpts- Washington Times:

During one session about oral sex, a presenter asked the 14-year-old students: "Spit or swallow? Is it rude?"

It was revealed this week that Mr. Jennings was involved in promoting a reading list for children 13 years old or older that made the most explicit sex between children and adults seem normal and acceptable.

Geeez, fire him already!

Anonymous said...

It is amazing that in over 40 posts and several thousand words, our left wing idiot troll can't find a thing to criticize except the people who are posting stories about our naked emperor.

Anonymous said...

Fire Jennings? The liberal Dems don’t want to offend their gay voters. Stuff like this hurts the gay agenda in IMHO.

Anonymous said...

The McClatchy "zombies" you refer to are likely management losers scared shi#less that their exits are dead ahead in the next round of cuts. Sucking up and denial are their two greatest "assets." The company has left its management suckups alone for the most part, but the day has come to shed these payroll drains.

Anonymous said...

The corrupt media’s blackout of Climategate reminds me of a small child playing hide and seek; they cover their eyes thinking if they can’t see you, you can’s see them. The end is near for such fools.

Anonymous said...

Max Baucus is certainly happy about the Tiger Woods scandal. The Saturday release of his affair, divorce, and living with a girlfriend he tried to get a government job, was barely noticed. The affair of a SC Governor generated news for months, but a slime ball senator is hush-hushed. Especially a slime ball senator pushing healthcare down our throats.

Anonymous said...

Obama’s cult/young voters are not too happy to be told buy insurance or be fined. The word FREEDOM finally registered with the brainless, so-called educated crowd.

Anonymous said...

McClatchy peddles their lame ‘better days ahead’ propaganda to keep the print media running until their electronic paper can become better known, and they can transfer their few remaining liberal readers into the new media. The last of the old dregs will probably be terminated. It would be a death knell to take the deadheads into their brave new electronic world.

Anonymous said...

Speaking of trolls, where is ‘Sweetie’ these days? He may be off demanding proof that global warming is not a colossal hoax?
Bwhahahahaha

Anonymous said...

Remember when the old lying media ignored the Van Jones information? Then they came back with excuses which even they didn’t believe. They didn’t learn anything, they are at it again with Kevin Jennings. Who would think the self-described savvy journalists would miss such huge stories?

Anonymous said...

Seven companies heading for bankruptcy.....

Guess who makes the list.
Oh, and this was from that right wing site, MSN.

http://tinyurl.com/yem7m9n

"7. McClatchy
Technology has been particularly hard on the news business, as content has moved online but advertising dollars have been slow to follow. For smaller, undiversified newspaper companies burdened with huge debt loads, time is running out. Despite the high quality of its papers, which include The Miami Herald and The Sacramento Bee, McClatchy (MNI, news, msgs) falls into this category.


The company did not respond to a request for comment on this column.

McClatchy would have stood a better chance had it not made the mistake of borrowing heavily to fund a $4.6 billion purchase of Knight Ridder in 2006. It also has heavy exposure to California and Florida, two states hit hard by the housing mess. Now, with ad revenue still in free fall, McClatchy runs the risk of missing payments on its massive debt.

Strictly speaking, this won't mean the final edition for McClatchy papers. In a bankruptcy scenario, they could be sold. But the final deadline for McClatchy, as a public company at least, would be up."

Anonymous said...

Anon 9:17, good post. The part, 'Despite the high quality of its papers' made me choke, thank goodness I am not drinking coffee just now.

Anonymous said...

9:58... well the story did come from MSN, so you know what their standards are for journalistic professionalism.

Anonymous said...

Re: Tiger by the 'tale'.
Lawmaker drops push to give Tiger Woods Congressional Gold Medal
By Christina Wilkie -

A California lawmaker is abandoning his effort to honor golf star Tiger Woods with the Congressional Gold Medal.

In a statement given to The Hill's ITK, Rep. Joe Baca (D-Calif.) said, “In light of the recent developments surrounding Tiger Woods and his family, I will not pursue legislation awarding him the Congressional Gold Medal this session."

Anonymous said...

Tiger Woods is no longer a black athlete. He is a man that has affairs with white women. I am not sure what he is ethnically now, probably ‘other.’

Anonymous said...

"Despite the high quality of its papers"- Gag!

Anonymous said...

What did Rhonda Lokeman used to write about her professionalism? I can’t remember, but I laughed every time I read it.

Anonymous said...

The McClatchy bankruptcy prediction story should be a stand-alone topic on the site. That's a big one after what Gary said yesterday.

Anonymous said...

The Media's Top 10 Worst Economic Myths of 2009
From jobs 'saved or created,' to stimulus saving the economy, to 'deficit neutral' health care reform; here are ten biggest stories the media got wrong this year.

By Julia A. Seymour
Business & Media Institute
12/9/2009 12:18:20 PM

Each year the Business & Media Institute looks back on the year's news and selects the top 10 worst economic myths. Here is our 2009 list:



10. CBS, NY Times Support Ecuadorian Shakedown of U.S. oil company

9. Media Fail to Scrutinize Obama’s Job Claims

8. Government Stimulus is the Answer to Our Economic Problems

7. No Tax Increases for the Middle Class

6. The Recession was Over … by July.

5. Cash for Clunkers was a ‘Success’

4. Reagan vs. Obama on Jobs: Same Rate, Different Story

3. Health Care Reform will be ‘Deficit Neutral’

2. Tea Parties aren’t made up of grassroots protestors; they’re just ‘Astroturf.’

1. ClimateGate

For the full story go here:

http://tinyurl.com/yzensgu

Anonymous said...

Why do both Obama and the media hate business and love government?