Daily news sites

For a while now, I was thinking that it was about time to get a hair cut. That day came! Nothing drastic; a little shorter hair, some layers, and I was done. On that day , I opted for a silk vintage blazer with an amazing color combination and print, shorts, almost the same color, and two necklaces, for a bold impact- all blended together= a playful casual outfit!




                                                                           Blazer: vintage/ another great version Here and Here
                                                                           Shorts: Mango/ similar Here and  Here
                                                                           Blouse: Vintage
                                                                           Flats: MIA/ similar Here and Here
                                                                           Clutch: American Apparel/ another great design Here and Here 
                                                                           Necklaces: Portland Museum of Art , vintage/ similar Here
                                                                           Ring:E&L/ similar Here
                                                                         

OTTAWA - Being sodomized is acceptable in Islam if the goal is to carry out jihad, according to a cleric on a new video making the rounds online. In a video posted on YouTube last month, and as reported by the New York-based think-tank Gatestone Institute more recently, cleric Abu al-Dema al-Qasab's instructions include details on how to carry out a successful suicide bombing mission by hiding explosives in the bomber's anus. "However, to undertake this jihadi approach you must agree to be sodomized for a while to widen your anus so it can hold the explosives," al-Dema al-Qasab tells followers in the video. There is no indication where or when the video was recorded, but appears by the screen to have been aired on Fadak TV, a Shia-based satellite television station. The background of al-Dema al-Qasab is also unknown. Author Raymond Ibrahim, who wrote the article for Gatestone, denies claims the video is a hoax intended to insult Islam. The Gatestone Institute's homepage indicates it specializes in international policy and the Middle East. Sodomy is forbidden in Islam but according to al-Dema al-Qasab's video, everything is permissible if the objective is in the best interests of the jihad. In 2009, Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a Nigerian national, attempted to blow up a plane bound for Detroit by igniting a bomb planted in his underwear. That led to the introduction of body scanners at airports worldwide which can see through clothing. The scanners, however, cannot see inside body cavities, and authorities expressed fear at the time that terrorists would likely try to evolve their attacks to avoid detection. http://www.torontosun.com/2012/07/12/sodomy-the-new-jihadi-training-method

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Hasn't the President essentially been story telling all along??

(CBS News) President Obama's biggest mistake during his first term, he told CBS News in an exclusive interview, has been putting policy over storytelling.

Mr. Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama sat down Thursday with "CBS This Morning" anchor Charlie Rose in the White House Blue Room, where they discussed the failures and successes of his administration as he heads into another election, among other things.

"When I think about what we've done well and what we haven't done well," the president said, "the mistake of my first term - couple of years - was thinking that this job was just about getting the policy right. And that's important. But the nature of this office is also to tell a story to the American people that gives them a sense of unity and purpose and optimism, especially during tough times."

Mr. Obama acknowledged the dissonance between others' perception of his strength as an expert orator, and his own.

"It's funny - when I ran, everybody said, well he can give a good speech but can he actually manage the job?" he said. "And in my first two years, I think the notion was, 'Well, he's been juggling and managing a lot of stuff, but where's the story that tells us where he's going?' {Read More}

Well Mr. President, I beg to disagree. What the American people want is the truth, not stories about unicorns and the benevolence of the state. They want the facts, the cold hard facts. They want fiscal conservatism and fiscal responsibility that will get our nation's financial house in order. They want the opportunity to have a good paying job in the private sector and then they will do the rest. They are tired of the social engineering that both democrats and republicans have shoved down our throats. They do not want dependency on the state nor your benevolent, haughty, and superior attitude. What they do want is someone that will represent all Americans, not just the special interests that may hold the key to your re-election.

Oh, and one more thing, let the class warfare rhetoric rest for a change. It is worn out like an old shoe and it is becoming increasingly boring.

Other than that, Mr. President you're doing a hell of a job.

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty - vs- Tyranny

Cannabis Leaf

Medical Science has demonstrated the benefits of medical marijuana in relieving the pain cancer patients experience. Yet the the federal government has seen fit to attempt to take the property of Harborside Health Center and force closure of California's largest medical marijuana supplier. As to be expected for ginned up BS reasons. Perhaps this act will help the win the never ending war on drugs. Okay, snark off now. But I'm quite sure mst of you will get the point.

The Los Angeles Times - The federal government is moving to shut down the nation's largest and highest-profile medical marijuana dispensary operation, filing papers to seize properties in Oakland and San Jose where Harborside Health Center does business.

Copies of the federal Complaint for Forfeiture were taped to the front doors of the two dispensaries Tuesday, alleging that they were "operating in violation of federal law."

Medical marijuana advocates, as well as some state and local officials, decried the action, saying it hurts patients in legitimate need of the drug and breaks repeated promises by President Obama's Justice Department that it was targeting only operations near schools and parks or otherwise in violation of the state's laws.

The U.S. attorney for Northern California, Melinda Haag, said she now found "the need to consider actions regarding marijuana superstores such as Harborside" because they presented unique opportunities for abuse.

I simply must break right here. Every package store (that's liquor store for those outside Mass.) in every village, town, and city present the opportunity for alcohol abuse. Thus adding to the death toll on America's roadways by drunks driving, adding to the number of alcoholics in society, increasing spousal and child abuse, increasing the number of divorces etc., you all can add more if you like.

I think everyone can see the point of the above, at least I hope so. There is nothing wrong with responsible drinking just as there is nothing wrong with responsible use of medical marijuana. But of course the feds must continue the ridiculous, illogical, and irresponsible attack on something that is in fact a non issue.

Harborside was co-founded by outspoken marijuana activist Steve DeAngelo in 2006 and was the subject of a reality show, "Weed Wars," on the Discovery Channel last year. While other dispensary operators have sought a low profile since California's four U.S. attorneys began cracking down on the industry in October, DeAngelo has consistently railed against the federal intervention, advocated for better state regulations and become a leader in the movement.

"People are not going to stop using cannabis, they're just going to buy it in the illegal marketplace … on the streets," he said Wednesday in an interview. "Why are federal prosecutors using their discretion to do something so profoundly destructive?" {Read More}

Of all the crazy, zany, endeavors the feds involve themselves in this is without a doubt one of the zaniest. But who ever said the feds, particularly when it comes to the war on drugs hysteria, were rational.

Via: Memeoranmdum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

at the 44th Karlovy Vary International Film Festival

Every so often we have our views called into check. Whenever this happens the wise person considers the perspective, as well as the experiences of the person calling the entrenched views into check. In doing so one learns and therefor grows. At least that is how it should work.

Milos Forman, the immigrant from Czechoslovakia who later won Academy Awards for best director for the films “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Amadeus”, provides just such a check for America. He clearly, and accurately describes American politicians misunderstanding of totalitarianism and western European democratic socialism in his July 10th op-ed piece in the New York Times .

He ends the article with a very poignant warning. Mr. Obama, and politicians of both major parties, as well as every American citizens ought to consider his words... and warning.

The New York Times - WHEN I was asked to direct “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” my friends warned me not to go anywhere near it.

The story is so American, they argued, that I, an immigrant fresh off the boat, could not do it justice. They were surprised when I explained why I wanted to make the film. To me it was not just literature but real life, the life I lived in Czechoslovakia from my birth in 1932 until 1968. The Communist Party was my Nurse Ratched, telling me what I could and could not do; what I was or was not allowed to say; where I was and was not allowed to go; even who I was and was not.

Now, years later, I hear the word “socialist” being tossed around by the likes of Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and others. President Obama, they warn, is a socialist. The critics cry, “Obamacare is socialism!” They falsely equate Western European-style socialism, and its government provision of social insurance and health care, with Marxist-Leninist totalitarianism. It offends me, and cheapens the experience of millions who lived, and continue to live, under brutal forms of socialism.

My sister-in-law’s father, Jan Kunasek, lived in Czechoslovakia all his life. He was a middle-class man who ran a tiny inn in a tiny village. One winter night in 1972, during a blizzard, a man, soaked to the bone, awakened him at 2 in the morning. The man looked destitute and, while asking for shelter, couldn’t stop cursing the Communists. Taking pity, the elderly Mr. Kunasek put him up for the night.

A couple of hours later, Mr. Kunasek was awakened again, this time by three plainclothes policemen. He was arrested, accused of sheltering a terrorist and sentenced to several years of hard labor in uranium mines. The state seized his property. When he was finally released, ill and penniless, he died within a few weeks. Years later we learned that the night visitor had been working for the police. According to the Communists, Mr. Kunasek was a class enemy and deserved to be punished.

Skip

Whatever his faults, I don’t see much of a socialist in Mr. Obama or, thankfully, signs of that system in this great nation. Mr. Obama is accused of trying to expand the reach of government — into health care, financial regulation, the auto industry and so on. It’s fair to question whether the federal government should have expanded powers: America, to its credit, has debated this since its birth. But let’s be clear about how frightening socialism actually could be.

Marx believed that we could wipe out social inequities and Lenin tested those ideas on the Soviet Union. It was his dream to create a classless society. But reality set in, as it always does. And the results were devastating. Blood flowed through Russia’s streets. The Soviet elite usurped all privileges; sycophants were allowed some and the plebes none. The entire Eastern bloc, including Czechoslovakia, followed miserably.

I’m not sure Americans today appreciate quite how predatory socialism was. It was not — as Mr. Obama’s detractors suggest — merely a government so centralized and bloated that it hobbled private enterprise: it was a spoils system that killed off everything, all in the name of “social justice.”

Skip

I am not asking Mr. Obama and the Republican leaders to stop playing instruments of their choosing. All I am asking is that every player keep in mind the noble melody of our country. Otherwise the noisy dissonance might become loud enough to wake another Marx, or even worse. {The Entire Article}

Indeed wisdom is increased through the recognition of truth as well as having the ability to understand and accept it as truth. President Obama has many failing, he has shown he does not have the answers to our national problems, his solutions have created more questions than answers, he has a vision vastly different than many, perhaps the majority of Americans, but as Mr. Forman has aptly pointed out the President is not what the right has painted him to be.

Via: Memeorandum

New in from Sheinside.com this bright, pick me up orange pants:) Oh, yes, I love them ! Both, the color and design, are just my taste. One first look is this one showing today with lace Zara heels, vintage printed top and also a vintage bag. As always a simple outfit with clean lines and c o l o r s  that give me a positive energy.

The winner of Sheinside giveaway is : Endless Summer! Congrats dear ! I will contact you soon.
Thank you very much to all of you for participating in this giveaway, and stay tuned:  soon a NEW GIVEAWAY !

I made a promise to myself the last time I saw the Pinterest Challenge, that the next time it came around I would join in the fun.


So when Katie, Sherry, Kate and Michelle told me it was that time of year I did a little happy jig. But my dancing stopped when the hubs pointed out that I was "already in the middle of 4 other big projects. Do you really want to add another one?" 


Must he always be so practical? 


I did see his point though. But hey, not everything on Pinterest needs to be big. So I decided I'd do something that I could tackle during craft time with my daughter. 


Resume happy jig.

The goal, for me, was to pick something very different. Something that made me say 'I love it' and 'that is nothing like anything I have in my house'.

So when I saw this fab mason jar turned disco vase by The Knotty Bride I knew I'd found my project.  And how thrilled would my 4-year-old, Amelia, be to help me with glue and glitter?! Mom of the Month club, are you reading this?
The tutorial is simple and straightforward, perfect for the likes of me. 

I got my supplies and used a leftover glass vase from Eve's birthday party as my test subject.
Everything went swimmingly until the glue brush broke and fell onto the table and then into my lap, slopping glue all over everything. This would never happen to a serial craft person I'm sure. You are lucky I love you Martha, otherwise I would have thrown some of my cussing in your direction.
With glue all over the jar, the table and myself, we got to the fun part, the glitter. I used the left over cake box from my birthday to contain the glitterness. 
We rolled and rolled until we got this.
It worked! And it was fun and messy and quick. Amelia quickly claimed it as 'hers' so I decided to do another using my very favorite bottle. 

I save these bottles from a bar that the hubs and I always visit on date night. They make a blissful G&T. And the bottles are a perfect shape for a single flower. Win win.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat. And I have a lovely glitter tonic bottle.
A perfect way to honor my favorite drink and event - date night. 


When we finished Amelia said "oh mommy - they are the most pretty gold dancing balls!". (I think she means disco ball. Don't even get me started on how proud I am that she knows what a disco ball is.)


It was a fun afternoon. And I now have something funky and different from anything else in my house. It also brings out the gold in Mary Katherine Gallagher the Owl . I love it.


And how can you argue with the sparkle it gives when the sun catches it.
Disco.

Thanks ladies, for encouraging me to get my craft on!

Be sure to visit all of the Pinterest Challenge hosts today and see all of the great projects inspired by the time sucker good friend we call Pinterest.

Ten June
Young House Love
Bower Power
Centsational Girl

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny


We live in America. Free from fear of tyranny of the police state. Imbued with certain rights and legal safeguards protecting us from the abuse of authority. Or so we thought...

Congressman Ed Markey

July 9, 2012 - Congressman releases first-ever accounting of responses from wireless carriers that indicate sweeping personal data requests from law enforcement agencies.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – In the first-ever accounting of its kind, Congressman Edward J. Markey (D-Mass) has found that in 2011, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies made more than 1.3 million requests of wireless carriers for the cell phone records of consumers, and that number is increasing every year. Last month, Rep. Markey queried nine mobile wireless carriers about their policies and practices for sharing their customers’ mobile phone information with law enforcement agencies after a report in the New York Times reported that law enforcement was routinely requesting consumers cell phone records, sometimes with little judicial oversight and no consumer knowledge. The responses received by Rep. Markey were startling in the volume and scope of requests made by law enforcement, including requests for “cell tower dumps” in which carriers provide all the phones numbers of cell users that connect with a tower during a discreet period of time, including information on innocent people. According to the carriers, all requests were made pursuant to a legal warrant or granted due to an emergency situation in which an individual was in imminent danger.

"We cannot allow privacy protections to be swept aside with the sweeping nature of these information requests, especially for innocent consumers,” said Rep. Markey, senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee and co-Chair of the Congressional Bi-Partisan Privacy Caucus. “Law enforcement agencies are looking for a needle, but what are they doing with the haystack? We need to know how law enforcement differentiates between records of innocent people, and those that are subjects of investigation, as well as how it handles, administers, and disposes of this information.” {Read More}

Whether liberal or conservative, republican or democrat, independent or libertarian this should send chills up your spine. We should all be thankful for Congressman Markey's publication of this information. In the aftermath of 911, the subsequent enactment of the Patriot Act and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security, we are, as some warned losing our right to privacy and perhaps the protection of this right under our laws.

The slippery slope GWB put the nation on will continue to get more slippery as Leviathan finds new and ever more intrusive ways to monitor the activities of the citizens of the nation. Which of course ultimately leads to more control and a further loss of liberties.

George Oswell's 1984 is arriving in America. Albeit a bit later than he had imagined. The question is; will we stand for any further erosion of our rights?

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

The Thinker Believes It Time For the Alternative

It comes as no surprise.

THE HILL - Two-thirds of likely voters say President Obama has kept his 2008 campaign promise to change America — but it’s changed for the worse, according to a sizable majority.

A new poll for The Hill found 56 percent of likely voters believe Obama’s first term has transformed the nation in a negative way, compared to 35 percent who believe the country has changed for the better under his leadership.

The results signal broad voter unease with the direction the nation has taken under Obama’s leadership and present a major challenge for the incumbent Democrat as he seeks reelection this fall.

Conducted for The Hill by Pulse Opinion Research, the poll comes in the wake of last month’s Supreme Court decision that upheld the primary elements of Obama’s signature healthcare legislation.

It found 68 percent of likely voters — regardless of whether they approve or disapprove of Obama — believe the president has substantially transformed the country since his 2009 inauguration.

The feeling that Obama has changed the country for the worse is strongest among Republicans, at 91 percent, compared to 71 percent of Democrats who support Obama’s brand of change.

Strikingly, 1-in-5 Democrats say they feel Obama has changed the United States for the worse.

Compared to the sentiment about Obama’s impact, fewer people see presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney as a candidate who will change the country dramatically if elected.

Still, 50 percent of people think Romney will bring a “significant” level of change — a finding that may reflect the desire among anti-Obama voters for a reversal of the president’s policies. {Read More}

With the country in a state of dissatisfaction over inept leadership for the last 13 years and 6 months by both major parties wouldn't it make sense to consider an alternative?

Via: Memeorandum

Along with 4th of July, there came a lot of SALES! we didn't miss that opportunity and went after shopping deals. I was wearing "the one and only"  perfect top for hot Summer days, thanks to Sugarlipsapparel.com, Levi's jeans , Aldo nude heels (that I'm kinda stuck in them as I just love them ), and one pair of earrings. I bought the earrings from flea market last Sunday.
You will see the shopping result soon :)



                                                                       Top: thanks to Sugarlipsapparel.com
                                                                       Jeans: Levi's/ similar Here
                                                                       Shoes: Aldo/ similar Here
                                                                       Bracelet : Marni/ another great version Here
                                                                       Bag: Mondani/ another great design Here and Here
                                                                       Sunglasses: Ralph Lauren
                                                                       Earrings: vintage/ another great pair Here 

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Tyranny

Gary Johnson,  LP Candidate for President 2012 - Washington Times Photo

Politico has Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president chances at around zero. I agree. But then that really isn't the point. Certainly not in my considered opinion anyway.

In a time when Americans find much about both major party candidates distasteful, and in some cases outright unacceptable, the concept of a third alternative to the status qua can be intriguing. Indeed for some it offers the hope of real change. Rational change that has been proven effective in the State of New Mexico by an effective two tern Governor, Gary Johnson.

Candidate Johnson, as reported by Politico is not interested in the protest vote. While thismay play well with those who do not view themselves specifically as protestors the "protest" vote is a critical part of the equation if we are to turn this country on the track of reasonable and sustainable political and economic growth in the future.

I certainly view myself as a "protest" vote. I protest both what the republican party and the democratic party have come to stand for. Neither party can be trusted to represent the interests of "the great" American middle class any longer. Nor can either be trusted to make decision that are in the best long range rational interests of the country and its people.

2012 is indeed a pivotal election in our countries history. Our future as a democratic republic as well as a nation with the economic engine for growth and prosperity may very well be determined by the results in November of this year. Given the major party candidates the prospect does not look encouraging regardless of who is found sitting in the Oval Office in January 2013.

Sure, one can be safe, voting for the known quantity. Which means more than ever before choosing between the "lesser of two evils." A choice true American patriots must cringe at, and therefore take a bold and decisive step to vote principle and vote for liberty, rather than the eventual tyranny either major party will bring to the people.

Mr. Johnson may not be looking for or seeking the "protest" vote, and that is fine. But I, and millions of patriots like me are certainly free to say hop aboard the liberty train and see where it takes you. For all who are disenchanted with both major parties, for those who realize the elephant train and the donkey train will ultimately take you to the brink of the same cliff, for those who believe America can do better than either major party candidate is offering, then consider this... Gary Johnson may not win the next election, but if he generates enough support it is just possible real change will occur non the less. Most importantly a strong showing will undoubtedly build the momentum for a viable, strong, and vibrant Libertarian Party.

Oh, I almost forgot, be sure to read the article that inspired this post. Please be sure to check out all the links as they are indeed to difference sites.

Via: Memeorandum

by: Les Carpenter
Rational Nation USA
Liberty -vs- Justice

DNC Chairperson Debbie Wasserman Schultz

Wasserman Schultz getting it about one 1/4 right again...

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) on Sunday dismissed the idea that sluggish job growth would discourage minority voters from the polls this November.

Wasserman Schultz, the chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee, said that the policies of the presumptive GOP nominee, Mitt Romney, on issues like immigration reform would be even worse for minorities.

“When it comes to policies like immigration reform, Mitt Romney is the most extreme presidential candidate on immigration policy and that is why there is a 40-point deficit between him and President Obama among Hispanic-Americans,” Wasserman Schultz said on Fox News Sunday.

She also said that African-Americans would have been “devastated” by Romney’s preference to not rescue the U.S. auto industry.

The Labor Department said Friday that the economy added only 80,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate stayed steady at 8.2 percent. But the unemployment rate for blacks was 14.4 percent, and stood around 11 percent for Hispanics.

Wasserman Schultz acknowledged, like President Obama on Friday, that the economy still has a ways to go. {Read More}

The blind leading the blind. Who-Rah!

Via: Memeorandum