Space : The Final Frontier – ‘Watch: Final video of NASA spacecraft before crashing into moon’

‘Two NASA probes smashed into the face of the moon on December 17th, and now NASA has released the last video the spacecraft sent back to Earth. The video is a beautiful fly-by of the lunar surface’.

‘As the description in the video explains’:

‘This video of the moon was taken by the NASA GRAIL mission’s MoonKAM (Moon Knowledge Acquired by Middle School Students) camera aboard the Ebb spacecraft on Dec. 14, 2012’.

‘At the time the images were taken, the spacecraft were about 6 miles above the northern hemisphere of the moon’s far side, in the vicinity of the Jackson impact crater’.

‘This imagery was acquired as part of a final checkout of spacecraft equipment prior to its planned impact on a mountain near the moon’s north pole on Dec. 17.
From : http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-205_162-57563498/watch-final-video-of-nasa-spacecraft-before-crashing-into-moon/

 

‘Obama On The Debt Ceiling: House GOP ‘Will Not Collect A Ransom For Not Crashing The American Economy’

“Raising the debt ceiling does not authorize more spending. It simply allows the country to pay for spending that Congress has already committed to. These are bills that have already been racked up and we need to pay them…[House Republicans] will not collect a ransom in exchange for not crashing the American economy. The financial well-being of the American people is not leverage to be used. The full faith and credit of the United States of America is not a bargaining chip”.
From : http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2013/01/14/1444541/obama-on-the-debt-ceiling-house-gop-will-not-collect-a-ransom-for-not-crashing-the-american-economy/?mobile=nc

 

Fear and Loathing from the Republican right – ‘Indiana GOP Lets Glenn Beck Set Legislative Agenda: Introduces Bill To Fight U.N. Conspiracy Theory’

This is the ‘new’ Republican Party.

Legislating against a conspiracy theories.

‘You’d be forgiven for having not heard of Agenda 21. Developed at a summit in Brazil in 1992 with support from President George H.W. Bush, Agenda 21 is a series of non-binding UN recommendations for ensuring that economic growth does not undermine the environment’.

‘But right-wing Republicans have somehow come to believe that Agenda 21 contains a secret, nefarious plot to destroy American life and society as we know it, birthing a cottage industry devoted to spreading misinformation about the UN proposal’.

‘The most recent evidence of this movement’s reach is a proposal by two Indiana lawmakers to ban the implementation of any Agenda 21-inspired initiatives in the state’.

‘The Republican state legislators, Rep. Tim Neese and Sen. Dennis Kruse, proposed laws prohibiting the implementation of Agenda-21 inside Indiana’.

‘Neese worried that the document — which has no legal power to reshape American law — was a “mandate” that threatened his freedom’:

“So when any type of special interest tries to — through a policy whether it be a legislative body or local or state official — to mandate that a specific type of material has to be used. That’s where I think the Agenda 21 policy is going beyond what is neutral”.

‘Last October, Georgia Republicans fretted that President Obama was using CIA-developed mind-control to implement Agenda 21’s plot to establish a dictatorship and ban suburbs’.

‘Sen. Ten Cruz (R-TX) deemed the it to be a paramount threat to America’s golf courses’.

‘The Republican National Committee called Agenda 21 “destructive and insidious,” and the 2012 party platform condemned it as “erosive of American sovereignty.”

‘And this isn’t just idle talk – Alabama and Tennessee have already passed bans on Agenda 21 implementation, and five states (including Indiana) will consider them this legislative term’.

‘Sadly, GOP paranoia about the United Nations isn’t limited to fear of Agenda 21’.

‘During the campaign, former Presidential candidate Mitt Romney suggested the United Nations was planning to force American parents to raise their children according to UN guidelines and override the Second Amendment’.

‘The latter fear is widespread among Republicans — Senate Republicans spiked the UN Arms Trade Treaty, a convention regulating the international arms trade with no effect on domestic law’.

‘Senate Republicans did the same thing, on similarly paranoid grounds, to the UN Convention on the Rights of People with Disability and the Law of the Sea treaty’.
From : http://thinkprogress.org/politics/2013/01/14/1445511/indiana-gop-lets-glenn-beck-set-legislative-agenda-introduces-bill-to-fight-un-conspiracy-theory/?mobile=nc

 

Stories From The Fringe – ‘Glenn Beck is Planning a $2 Billion Libertarian Commune in Texas’

They want all the safety and protection that the United States provides but none of the responsibility of being a part of our society.

So Glenn Beck and (ROTFLMFAO!!!!) David Barton see Libertarianism as sponging off of society.

‘Earlier this week, Glenn Beck announced that he was reinventing The Blaze, his online media property, as a global libertarian news network, complete with three foreign bureaus, a nightly news magazine, and, no doubt, lots of Beck himself’.

‘Last night, he announced the next stage of his full-bodied embrace of libertarianism, which seems to be a massive commune inspired by “Galt’s Gulch,” Ayn Rand’s utopian community in Atlas Shrugged’.

‘You can watch Beck’s 20-minute rant about the community, which he’s dubbed Independence, USA, or you can turn to Right Wing Watch, which reports’:

‘On his program last night, Beck revealed that his intention to “go Galt” is quite literal, unveiling grandiose plans to create an entirely self-sustaining community called Independence Park that will provide its own food and energy, produce television and film content, host research and development, serve as a marketplace for products and ideas, while also housing a theme park and serving as a residential community’.

‘At the center — in the middle of the lake that is itself larger than all of Disney Land – Beck (with the help of David Barton) will create a massive “national archive”/learning center where people can send their children to be “deprogrammed” and elected officials can come to learn “the truth.”

‘The Blaze painted a more sympathetic portrait’:

‘Galt railed against the collectivist system and believed that only through freedom could people tap into their divine potential to become creators of their own: leaders, businessmen, artists, and so on’.

‘The community that was created in this spirit was called “Galt’s Gulch,” and it is that very ideal Beck strives to emulate in his own enterprises. In fact, that’s why he moved to Texas’.

‘Drawing on this free market, limited-government model, Beck said he aspires to build an actual community based on just that. While the price tag of building an actual city-slash-theme park is steep at an estimated $2 billion, Beck said he feels compelled to move forward with his ultimate plan “once piece at a time.” Having toured “three possible sites in three different states” and having spoken to two governors already, Beck is serious in his goals’.

‘Beck doesn’t specify where in Texas this community will be, whether it will be based near his Westlake home, or his Las Colinas studio, or on some of that farmland he bought’.

‘He also doesn’t say if or how the community would deal with state and federal law. We’re sure Beck will come up with those answers. Anyways, it’s best not to think too hard about it’.
From : http://blogs.dallasobserver.com/unfairpark/2013/01/glenn_beck_is_planning_a_2_bil.php?page=2

 

“Liberty-Driven” Fortress Community Being Planned In Idaho’

I will compare the nuts in the Pacific NW to ANY other part of our Nation.

Because I know I’ll win.

These are people who so fear and hate the United States of America that they want the protection of all our laws without having to be a part of our society.

‘A group of self-appointed “patriots” are moving forward with an idea for a planned community of several thousand families of “patriotic Americans” in Idaho, a project named The Citadel, envisioned as a “martial endeavor designed to protect Residents in times of peril (natural or man-made).”

“The Citadel is not profit-driven. The Citadel is Liberty-driven: specifically Thomas Jefferson’s Rightful Liberty,” the group organizing the project says on its website. “Marxists, Socialists, Liberals and Establishment Republicans will likely find that life in our community is incompatible with their existing ideology and preferred lifestyles.”

‘The idea for The Citadel was born in the “Patriot Blogosphere” in early 2012, according to the project’s website. The Idaho Stateman reported on the project last month, but it gained widespread attention in the past week’.

‘Organizers hope to purchase land in 2013 for The Citadel, and break ground soon after’.
From : http://livewire.talkingpointsmemo.com/entry/liberty-driven-fortress-community-being-planned-in-idaho

 

‘Dad threatens to “spill blood” over way kindergarteners say Pledge’

‘The Daily Herald (in suburban Chicago)’:

‘Colin McGroarty said Wednesday it was the first time he was there to hear the kindergartners say the Pledge of Allegiance’.

‘He thought he heard the word “liberty” removed’.

‘But more importantly, he said, was that the pledge was immediately followed by students’ recitation of the school creed. In it, students are asked to treat others with respect, follow school and classroom rules and “to try their best.” He said he was upset they pledged this while still holding their hands over their hearts and facing the U.S. flag’.

‘There should be a break between the pledges, he said, and students should not be facing the flag’.

‘He called it “conditioning a child” to blindly obey authority without knowing what is in the rules they are promising to obey. “In the beginning of the Hitler Youth movement, people made similar promises,” McGroarty said’.

‘When he emailed school officials that he had “spilled blood before” and would do so again to defend freedom, McGroarty said, he was not threatening violence; he was speaking as a military veteran who had sworn to protect the U.S. and defend its Constitution. Veterans, he said, will understand that’.

‘Yeah, the crazy ones’.

‘Interesting that the article doesn’t mention whether “blood-spilling” dad owns a gun. Outbursts like this should be immediate cause to lose any right to own a gun’.

‘If the gun nuts are serious about cracking down on “the crazy,” then let’s start with the crazies in their midst. Because there sure seem to be a lot of them’.
From : http://americablog.com/2013/01/dad-threatens-to-spill-blood-over-way-grade-school-kids-say-pledge.html

 

‘Americans Buy Enough Guns in Last Two Months to Outfit the Entire Chinese and Indian Armies’

America – the shinning example to the rest of the World on Freedom and Liberty.

‘Honest Americans Bought Enough Guns in November and December to Outfit the Entire Chinese and Indian Armies’

‘The Obama Administration is the number one threat to the nation’s gun rights advocates’.

‘In the four years since Barack Obama was first elected president in November 2008, an estimated 67 million firearms have been purchased in the United States. In November a record 2 million guns were sold in America. This was followed up by another record in December. 2.7 million guns were sold in America in the last month of 2012’.

(Question – if he is such a threat to gun ownership- then how come  guns are still sold?)

‘FBI.gov’

‘To put this in perspective’.

‘Chinese and Indian Standing Army Numbers’:

•’China’
– ‘There are 2.29 active members in the Chinese Army’.

•’India’
– ‘There are 1.13 active members in the Indian Army’.

‘There were enough guns sold in the US in November and December to outfit each active member of the Chinese and Indian armies with a brand new gun’.

‘UPDATE: Ann Coulter added’:

“And they bought enough guns in December alone to arm the entire Chinese army. Violent psychopaths may miscalculate in the future if they assume shoppers, theater-goers and teachers aren’t armed”.
From : http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2013/01/americans-buy-enough-guns-in-last-two-months-to-outfit-the-entire-chinese-and-indian-army/

 

‘Despicable Insensitivity: NRA Shooting Game Has Coffin-Shaped Targets, Approved For Ages 4+’

‘Gun nuts will be gun nuts, but this is just too much, even for them’.

‘Just one month after the tragic shooting in Newtown, CT, the NRA has released a most disturbing app’.

‘The app is a shooting game where the targets are- wait for it- coffins. Yes, you read right. This is something you’d expect to be on a satire site with extremely bad taste, but, nope, its real’.

‘The app is called NRA:Practice Range,and the targets are coffin-shaped, with bullseyes where the heads and hearts of humans would be’.

‘As if the idea of such an app at this time wasn’t disturbing enough, it has a feature where, for just 99 cents, the player can upgrade to an MK11 sniper rifle’.

‘But wait, there’s more: on top of all that, the game is actually approved for ages 4+’!
From : http://www.addictinginfo.org/2013/01/14/despicable-insensitivity-nra-shooting-game-has-coffin-shaped-targets-approved-for-ages-4/

20 Children and 6 Adults murdered in Newtown and all we do is ‘background checks’ – ‘In Gun Control Debate, Several Options Draw Majority Support’

Moderate, intelligent, reasoned people won the election over extremism yet we are losing the war for our Nation.

The money and threats the NRA will impose on our legislatiors will in the end trump public opinion.

And even then, public opinion is limp at best.

America. Soon to be an armed camp for the ‘shining light of liberty’.

The only problem….we are armed to ‘protect’ (kill) other Americans rather then any possible external threat.

Didn’t some founding Father say something about ‘enemies form within’?

‘While the issue of gun control remains divisive, there are clear areas of agreement when it comes to a number of gun policy proposals’.

‘Fully 85% of Americans favor making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, with comparable support from Republicans, Democrats and independents’.

‘Similarly, 80% support laws to prevent mentally ill people from purchasing guns, with broad support across party lines’.

‘But this bipartisan consensus breaks down when it comes to other proposals’.

‘Two-thirds of Americans (67%) favor creating a federal database to track gun sales, but there is a wide partisan divide between Democrats (84%) and Republicans (49%)’.

‘A smaller majority of the public (55%) favors a ban on assault-style weapons; Democrats (69%) also are far more likely than Republicans (44%) to support this’.

‘Similar partisan divides exist when it comes to banning high-capacity ammunition clips or the sale of ammunition online’.

‘By a two-to-one margin (64%-32%), most favor putting armed security guards and police in more schools’.

‘But when it comes to more teachers and school officials having guns, most are opposed (40% favor vs. 57% oppose)’.

‘The latter option is particularly divisive across party lines: 56% of Republicans would like to see more teachers and school officials armed, compared with just 23% of Democrats’.

‘The survey finds that 51% of Americans say it is more important to control gun ownership, while 45% say it is more important to protect gun rights’.

‘There is a wide gap between those who prioritize gun rights and gun control when it comes to political involvement’.

‘Nearly a quarter (23%) of those who say gun rights should be the priority have contributed money to an organization that takes a position on gun policy, compared with just 5% of those who prioritize gun control’.

‘People who favor gun rights are also about twice as likely as gun control supporters to have contacted a public official about gun policy (15% vs. 8%)’.

‘Among nine policy options included in the survey, the largest partisan gap is over creating a federal database to track gun sales’.

‘Fully 84% of Democrats favor the creation of a federal gun sale database, compared with 68% of independents and 49% of Republicans’.

‘The differences are nearly as great over more teachers and school officials having guns in schools: 56% of Republicans, 42% of independents and just 23% of Democrats favor arming more teachers and school officials’.

‘There also are substantial partisan gaps over banning assault-style and semi-automatic weapons (25 points and 19 points respectively), and banning the online sale of ammunition and high capacity ammunition clips (20 points, 18 points)’.

‘However, two proposals draw overwhelming support from Republicans, Democrats and independents — making private gun sales and sales at gun shows subject to background checks, and laws to prevent people with mental illness from purchasing guns’.

‘Majorities in each political group also favor putting armed security guards or police in more schools, though this proposal garners more support from Republicans (73% favor) than from Democrats (62%) or independents (59%)’.
From : http://www.people-press.org/2013/01/14/in-gun-control-debate-several-options-draw-majority-support/

Under the Mountain Bunker

House GOP eyes default, shutdown – POLITICO: “Republican leadership officials, in a series of private meetings and conversations this past week, warned that the White House, much less the broader public, doesn’t understand how hard it will be to talk restive conservatives off the fiscal ledge. To the vast majority of House Republicans, it is far riskier long term to pile up new debt than it is to test the market and economic reaction of default or closing down the government.

GOP officials said more than half of their members are prepared to allow default unless Obama agrees to dramatic cuts he has repeatedly said he opposes. Many more members, including some party leaders, are prepared to shut down the government to make their point. House Speaker John Boehner “may need a shutdown just to get it out of their system,” said a top GOP leadership adviser. “We might…

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