Photographers issue plea to end 'hostile' public searches under anti-terror laws

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/lawandorder/6889102/Photographers-issue-plea-to-end-hostile-public-searches-under-anti-terror-laws.html

More than 350 photographers have issued a joint plea to end the "hostile" and "humiliating" use of anti-terror laws to prevent them taking pictures in public.

The professional and amateur photographers have signed a letter, published in The Sunday Telegraph, calling on ministers and the police halt the practice of them being stopped and searched while they are taking images in public places.

877 new snowfall records set or tied in the USA in the last week

http://wattsupwiththat.com/2009/12/27/877-new-snowfall-records-set-or-tied-in-the-usa-in-the-last-week/

And that’s not all, for the week ending Dec 13th, there were 815 new snowfall records set. December 2009 is shaping up to be quite the snowmaker.

How China Might Buy More Gold Than America Owns

http://www.businessinsider.com/china-gold-23-12-2009

China has a long way to go before coming anywhere near America's gold reserves.

Yet apparently it's on their to-do list and a must, at least according to the country's China Gold Association.

We're Screwed! ShadowStats.com founder John Williams explains the risk of hyperinflation.

http://www.fairfieldweekly.com/article.cfm?aid=16014

Worst-case scenario? Rioting in the streets and devolution to a bartering system.

Do you believe everything the government tells you? Economist and statistician John Williams sure doesn't.

Is requiring health insurance even legal?

 http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/1959107,CST-NWS-health27.article

The health bill approved by the Senate would mandate that all Americans carry health insurance policies by 2014, with the government providing subsidies to help low- and middle-income families pay for them.

Those who don't buy insurance would face fines that rise gradually to $750 -- or a maximum of $2,250 per family.

Since when does the government have the right to mandate that you buy something, Ensign, of Nevada, said.

Judge Napolitano: One Big Monster Government

http://eclipptv.com/viewVideo.php?video_id=9184

Hectic.

Lieberman: Yemen will be 'tomorrow's war' if pre-emptive action not taken

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/73651-lieberman-yemen-will-be-tomorrows-war-if-preemptive-action-not-taken

Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.) Sunday said that Yemen could be the ground of America's next overseas war if Washington does not take preemptive action to root out al-Qaeda interests there.

Lieberman, who helms the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, said on "Fox News Sunday" that the U.S. will have to take an active approach in Yemen after multiple recent terrorist attacks on the U.S. were linked back to the Middle Eastern nation.

I forgot. What's a terrorist again?

Stasi-like Plan to Check Every Phone Call and Email in Britian

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1238618/
Telecoms firms have accused the Government of acting like the East German Stasi over plans to force them to store the details of every phone call for at least a year.

Under the proposals, the details of every email sent and website visited will also be recorded to help the police and security services fight crime and terrorism.

 Seriously?

The New, Terrifying, No-Electronics US Flight Security Rules

http://gizmodo.com/5434592/the-new-terrifying-no+electronics-us-flight-security-rules
That failed terrorist attack yesterday might make international flights a whole lot less enjoyable. Passengers are reporting that new restrictions are in place, and their severity varies flight-to-flight. Among the reports, a rumor: No electronics allowed.

Sweet.

Daily Mail Report Says CRU Emails Linked to Communist China

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1238638/Chinese-hackers-linked-Warmergate-climate-change-leaked-emails-controversy.html
The investigation into the so-called Warmergate emails - the leaked data from the University of East Anglia’s climate change department - took a new twist last night when The Mail on Sunday tracked the stolen messages to a suspect computer which provides internet access to China.

What?

Bus passengers could carry electronic tags

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/road-and-rail-transport/6858769/xmashold-Bus-passengers-could-carry-electronic-tags.html
Passengers could carry electronic tags to use buses and trains under plans being examined by the Government.

Sophisticated technology would not only consign the paper ticket to history, but would also make redundant touch-in-touch-out cards, such as the Oyster used in London.

Instead passengers would board buses and trains equipped with readers which capable of monitoring their journey from the tags and charging them the correct fare automatically.

Just 16 Ships Expel as Much Pollution as All the Cars in the World

http://www.naturalnews.com/027803_pollution_ships.html

Large shipping vessels have become commonplace in today's global marketplace as goods are imported and exported across the world. While the high levels of pollution they create are something that most people don't think too much about, some scientists are beginning to evaluate their environmental effect. One of the most disturbing facts discovered about these giant ships is that a mere 16 of them emit as much sulfur as do all the cars in the world combined.

Texas agrees to destroy controversial infant blood samples

http://www.kvue.com/news/State-agrees-to-destroy-infant-blood-samples-79934742.html

AUSTIN -- The Texas Department of State Health services has about four months to destroy blood samples taken and stored without permission from millions of babies.

Dad Michael Neff says blood samples taken from his two daughters should have been destroyed.

He fears the state might have used those blood samples in research projects or sold them to insurance companies.

“I don't think my kid's DNA should be out there, and if it is it should be mine and their mother's decision,” Neff said.

What?

Swine flu clinics for schoolchildren will open in January

http://www2.tbo.com/content/2009/dec/25/swine-flu-clinics-schoolchildren-will-open-january/life/

TAMPA - Evening clinics will open the second week of January for Hillsborough County children needing a second dose of the swine flu vaccine.

Children 9 years and younger need two doses of the H1N1 vaccine, at least 21 days apart, in order for it to be effective.

Oh really?

Climate Change 'Scare Tactics' Won't Work, Warns Expert

http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/146791/Climate-change-scare-tactics-won-t-work-warns-expert-Expe

A LEADING researcher into attitudes on climate change has claimed Government scare tactics are only increasing public scepticism about global warming.

2010: Year of the DUI Checkpoint

http://www.sthelenastar.com/articles/2009/12/24/opinion/editorial/doc4b32dc1d693fd482954065.txt

State government has started.

Last week state traffic safety officials announced plans to tighten their grip on drunk drivers and declared 2010 “The Year of the Checkpoint.”

The California Office of Traffic Safety (OTS) will fund more than 2,500 sobriety checkpoints in 2010, a 47 percent increase over the 1,700 conducted this year.

Wait dude... What?

Osama bin Laden's family missing since 9/11 attacks found living in secret compound in Iran

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1237913/Osama-bin-Ladens-family-living-safe-Iran-9-11-attacks.html

Eight years of uncertainty over the whereabouts of Osama bin Laden's closest family members has been blown open by a relative's admission that they are living in a secret compound in Iran.

Ummmm?

Christmas Back On! Build-A-Bear Surrenders, Pulls Videos

http://biggovernment.com/2009/12/23/christmas-back-on-build-a-bear-surrenders-and-pulls-alarmist-videos/

"Yesterday, we brought you the disturbing story of Build-a-Bear’s on-line video series warning kids that the North Pole may completely disappear in just a few days, threatening Christmas. (Average December temperature in the North Pole is around minus 40 degrees Farenheit.) Needless to say, the story received a lot of attention and sparked several organized efforts to boycott the company’s products.

By the end of what must have been a terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad day in Build-a-Bearville, CEO and Founder Maxine Clark published the following letter to the public:"

http://www.docstoc.com/docs/20214876/build-a-bear-letter-pdf

US clears high-dose Sanofi flu vaccine for elderly

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2316757020091223

(Reuters) - U.S. health officials approved on Wednesday a high-dose influenza vaccine made by Sanofi-Aventis DA (SASY.PA) for people age 65 and older.

Cops Get “Ghost Cars” to Bust Cell Phone Talkers

http://www.lohud.com/article/20091223/NEWS02/912230332/-1/newsfront/Westchester-cops-hope--ghost-car--blends-in

HAWTHORNE — Watch out for the new ghost on the highway.

Westchester County police will introduce a new "ghost car" Wednesday that is designed to sneak up on motorists who are talking on hand-held cell phones, text-messaging or driving without seat belts.

Wait dude... What?

Cost to Fight Each Al Qaeda Member in Afghanistan Per Year: $300 Million

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/president-obamas-secret-100-al-qaeda-now-afghanistan/story?id=9227861

As he justified sending 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan at a cost of $30 billion a year, President Barack Obama's description Tuesday of the al Qaeda "cancer" in that country left out one key fact: U.S. intelligence officials have concluded there are only about 100 al Qaeda fighters in the entire country.

Wait Dude... What?

Obamacare Slaps $15,000 Annual Fee on Middle Class Families

http://townhall.com/columnists/TerryJeffrey
The Congressional Budget Office's analysis of the final Senate health care bill indicates it would slap a mandatory annual fee of about $15,000 on middle-class families that earn an annual income greater than 400 percent of the federal poverty level ($88,200 for a family of four) and are not provided with health insurance by their employer.

Wait dude... What?

Paul Howard: Obamacare's gift to all: More regulation, more debt, more taxes

http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/columns/

Democrats are spending trillions on a Christmas present that a majority of Americans don't want: health care legislation loaded with more debt, more taxes, and more regulations. Like your Aunt Phyllis' fruitcake, it's on the way and there's nothing you can do to stop it.

Wait dude... What?

50 years of cooling predicted

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/50_years_of_cooling_predicted#65269

We're already 11 years into a cooling cycle according to BBC.

Meanwhile, Winter freeze kills 79 in Poland.

Who said the science was settled?

Avatar, the answer to a Copenhager’s dream

http://blogs.news.com.au/heraldsun/andrewbolt/index.php/heraldsun/comments/column_avatar_the_answer_to_a_copenhagens_dream/

MOST people will date the death of the great global warming scare not from the Copenhagen fiasco - boring! - but from Avatar.

It won’t be the world’s most expensive warmist conference but the world’s most expensive movie that will stick in most memories as the precise point at which the green faith started to shrivel from sheer stupidity.

Wait dude... What?

LAPD Takes Over Boy Scout Explorer Program

http://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_14052104?source=rss

YOUTHS: New name, uniforms, insignia planned.

With a pledge to develop a program that does not tolerate discrimination, Los Angeles police officials said Tuesday they are on target to take over the Explorer Program on Jan. 1.

New uniforms, patches and other insignia will be unveiled - along with a new name - to make the long-debated transition of the program from the Learning for Life subsidiary of the Boy Scouts of America to the LAPD's control.

Wait dude... What?

Paul goes from ridicule to respect

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6774366.html

Paul's proposal to audit the Federal Reserve — first introduced by the Texas congressman more than 20 years ago — recently sailed through the House Financial Services Committee.

Unemployment funds going ‘absolutely broke’

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34519544/ns/business-washington_post

The recession's jobless toll is draining unemployment-compensation funds so fast that according to federal projections, 40 state programs will go broke within two years and need $90 billion in loans to keep issuing the benefit checks.

Wait Dude... What?

Arizona's Coming Government Collapse - from Governor Jan Brewer

http://www.resistnet.com/forum/topics/arizonas-coming-government?xg_source=activity

Dear Fellow Arizonan,

We face a state fiscal crisis of unparalleled dimension – one that is going to sweep over every single person in this state as well as every business and every family.

That is why I held an emergency cabinet meeting yesterday morning where I outlined for our state’s elected leaders and business leaders the ills our state faces. As I told them yesterday, we ARE faced with some of the worst days in our 97-year history.

Wait dude... What?

Fierce storm barreling into Upper Midwest

USA Today reports the storm will be stronger than any storm seen in South Dakota in the past 40 years, which begs the question…

Wait dude... What?

NY Times: Obama Puts Off Gitmo Closure Until After 2011

http://www1.voanews.com/english/news/human-rights/NY-Times-Closure-of-Guantanamo-Prison-Will-Take-Longer-Than-Expected-79983017.html

The New York Times newspaper says the Obama administration may not be able to close the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba and transfer terrorism suspects held there until 2011 at the earliest.

Wait dude... What?

Former Microsoft Tech Officer Wants Sulfur Pumped Into Stratosphere To Combat Warming

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/2511875/nathan_myhrvolds_anti_global_warming.html?cat=15

The global warming solution proposed by Nathan Myhvold involves Nathan Myhrvold's Anti Global Warming Scheme running a hose up to the stratosphere with balloons and using that hose to pump out enough sulfur particles to dim the sun's heat just enough to counteract the effects of global warming.

Nathan Myhrvold's anti global warming scheme is intriguing, even for those people (increasingly most people) who doubt that man caused global warming is actually real. The climate gate scandal involving leaked emails suggests that the data that supports the idea of man caused global warming has been doctored to some extent.

Obama Extends Diplomatic Immunity to Interpol by Executive Order

http://www.newmediajournal.us/the_fifth_column/12222009.htm

The text of Section 2(c), which now applies to Interpol states:

"(c) Property and assets of international organizations, wherever located and by whomsoever held, shall be immune from search, unless such immunity be expressly waived, and from confiscation. The archives of international organizations shall be inviolable."

"If any branch of government wants to keep documents out of the hands of the US court system, just hand them over to Interpol until the smoke clears." It added that Interpol can maintain files on US citizens.

Wait dude... What?

US Court Orders Records Unsealed In Cap-And-Trade Fraud Case

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=200912171847dowjonesdjonline000636&title=us-court-orders-records-unsealed-in-cap-and-trade-fraud-case

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- U.S. legislators have obtained a court order unsealing documents in a case involving a multi-million-dollar cap-and-trade fraud.

Republican legislators say the records--due to be opened to the public in early January--could shed light on the potential challenges of policing a new, trillion-dollar commodities market that would be created under climate legislation that Congress is considering.

Wait dude... What?

Sen. Whitehouse: Foes of health care bill are birthers, right-wing militias, aryan groups

http://washingtontimes.com/weblogs/watercooler/2009/dec/20/sen-whitehouse-foes-health-care-bill-are-birthers-/?feat=article_top10_read

Wait Dude... What?

Taxpayers Help Goldman Reach Height of Profit in New Skyscraper

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aaLwI2SKYQJg

Building a new headquarters cater-cornered to where the World Trade Center once stood qualified the firm to sell $1 billion of tax-free Liberty Bonds and get about $49 million of job-grant funds, tax exemptions and energy discounts.

Chavez accuses U.S. of sending spy plane into Venezuela's airspace

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-12/21/content_12681901.htm

The U.S. military sent the unmanned spy plane to Venezuela for espionage, he said.
Last May, Chavez declared that a U.S. patrol plane violated Venezuela's airspace, though the United States said the patrol plane had "mistakenly entered" Venezuela's airspace because of "navigation problem."

There'll be nowhere to run from the new world government

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/janetdaley/6845967/Therell-be-nowhere-to-run-from-the-new-world-government.html

Wait... What?

Gordon Brown calls for new group to police global environment issues

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article6963482.ece#cid=OTC-RSS&attr=3392178

Wait Dude... What?

Troops Face Prison If They Get Pregnant

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1237333/Serving-U-S-troops-face-prison-fall-pregnant-active.html
Usual US Army policy is to send pregnant soldiers home from combat zones within 14 days.
But Major General Anthony Cucolo, who runs US operations in northern Iraq, issued the new orders because he said he was losing too many women with critical skills.

He needed the threat of court martial and jail time as an extra deterrent, he said.

Polluting pets: the devastating impact of man's best friend

Yahoo News - Polluting pets: the devastating impact of man's best friend

PARIS (AFP) – Man's best friend could be one of the environment's worst enemies, according to a new study which says the carbon pawprint of a pet dog is more than double that of a gas-guzzling sports utility vehicle.

Wait... What?

Wikipedia’s green doctor rewrote 5,428 climate articles

http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/fullcomment/archive/2009/12/18/370719.aspx

Connolley took control of all things climate in the most used information source the world has ever known – Wikipedia. Starting in February 2003, just when opposition to the claims of the band members were beginning to gel, Connolley set to work on the Wikipedia site. He rewrote Wikipedia’s articles on global warming, on the greenhouse effect, on the instrumental temperature record, on the urban heat island, on climate models, on global cooling. On Feb. 14, he began to erase the Little Ice Age; on Aug.11, the Medieval Warm Period. In October, he turned his attention to the hockey stick graph. He rewrote articles on the politics of global warming and on the scientists who were skeptical of the band.

Wait Dude... What?

Time Person of The Year: Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke

http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1946375,00.html

Wait dude... What?!?

War Is Peace

Washington Times: Left rankled over Obama war remarks

"Once we are committed to 'war's instrumentality in pursuit of peace,' we begin the Orwellian journey to the semantic netherworld where war is peace, where the momentum of war overwhelms hopes for peace," said the Ohio Democrat.

Dude... Wait, what?

Obama to Declare Carbon Dioxide Dangerous Pollutant

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126013960013179181.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories

"Officials gather in Copenhagen this week for an international climate summit, but business leaders are focusing even more on Washington, where the Obama administration is expected as early as Monday to formally declare carbon dioxide a dangerous pollutant."

But wait dude... whattabout...?

http://www.populartechnology.net/2008/11/carbon-dioxide-co2-is-not-pollution.html

"CO2 is not a pollutant. In simple terms, CO2 is plant food. The green world we see around us would disappear if not for atmospheric CO2." - John R. Christy, Ph.D. Professor of Atmospheric Sciences, University of Alabama

Obama: Climate Change: "This is not fiction, it is science."

http://greeninc.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/12/18/president-obamas-climate-speech/

COPENHAGEN — Opening words to Obama's speech,

"Good morning. It is an honor for me to join this distinguished group of leaders from nations around the world. We come here in Copenhagen because climate change poses a grave and growing danger to our people. All of you would not be here unless you — like me — were convinced that this danger is real. This is not fiction, it is science. Unchecked, climate change will pose unacceptable risks to our security, our economies, and our planet. This much we know."

Wait dude... what?

Poll: Less Than 1/3 Of Americans Believe “Most Scientists Agree” On Global Warming

An Associated Press-Stanford University poll (PDF) released today shows that just 31% of Americans believe that experts agree on the science behind global warming.
Question 22 in the poll asked “Do you think most scientists agree with one another about whether or not global warming is happening, or do you think there is a lot of disagreement among scientists on this issue?”
66% of respondents said that in their opinion “most scientists disagree”.

Gore: Polar ice may vanish in 5-7 years

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-5XwlcBqF0&feature=related

Wait dude... What?

Tony Blair: The world must take action on climate change…even if the science is not correct.

http://toryardvaark.wordpress.com/2009/12/15/climategate-tony-blair-the-world-must-take-action-on-climate-change-even-if-the-science-is-not-correct/

Failed Euro presidential candidate and former Prime Minister Tony Blair says, “Even if the science is not correct the world must act”.

Wait dude... What?

Google CEO Eric Schmidt: 'all world's information includes personal information'

http://blogs.zdnet.com/micro-markets/index.php?p=320

The Google mission to “organize all the world’s information and make it universally accessible” informs all that Google does, according to Schmidt.