Clipmarks | Pays Clips

CRIME PAYS! something useful the CIA could be doing

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 03:05:08 GMT

clipped by: chedare
clipper's remarks: While US gaols are overflowing with drug dependant poor ,the Don,s seem to know how to work the stystem to get their product from Afgahnistan to the streets of the West.Italy,s biggest Industry seems to leave a lot to be said for all the Law @ Order political retoric that they spew forth every few years. For those who have lost loved ones the buck stops with the lack of political will to nail these barsted who no doubt line thier pockets for short term election to office, War on Drugs what a farce. War on poor more likely because they cant fight back moral cowards.

Clip Source: money.ninemsn.com.au

Italian mafia untouched by global crisis

The Italian mafia, the country's organised crime network and biggest enterprise, has not been affected by the global economic crisis, a report by an Italian business association said.

The mafia's "huge financial resources allow it to carve out new chunks of the market, to profit from the lack of liquidity, to acquire real estate and businesses," the report said.

The main revenue sources for the mafia are drug trafficking, racketeering and usury. These are followed by arms trafficking, contraband and prostitution.

"Unlike other businesses, the mafia has been little affected by the international economic and financial crisis," the report said.

That fact makes the mafia "even more dangerous," said the association's president Marco Venturi.

He said the mafia could use the current weakness in other businesses and the uncertainty in the economy to boost its position.

Some 180,000 merchants were forced to take out loans at exorbitant rates

mafia clans

Tags: police state, farce, mafia, politics, healthcare

Barney Frank: A Democrat's Irresponsible And Impossible Plan

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 09:53:19 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: ~ ~ ~ ~to cut the defense budget by 25 percent~ ~ ~ ~

Research and Development (R&D); and Operations & Maintenance (O&M). MILPERS includes all funds used to pay the troops, provide subsistence for their dependents, their pensions and retirement pay, and their medical expenses (housing is paid out of a separate but relatively small account). Procurement is money spent to buy equipment--everything from rifles to aircraft carriers, including money spent to upgrade existing weapon systems. R&D is money spent to develop the next generation of weapon systems, to ensure that the U.S. maintains a technological edge over our adversaries. Finally, O&M is the money used for training, to buy fuel and food and other consumables, to fix broken equipment, and to sustain forces in the field.

Clip Source: www.weeklystandard.com

Aside for the questionable wisdom of cutting the defense budget at all when more than 200,000 American troops are deployed in combat zones around the world, Frank's proposal suggests that the man, for all his years in Congress dealing with budgetary matters, simply does not understand the military or how the country pays for it. Because any halfway informed person, hearing Frank's proposal, would realize that it is not physically or fiscally possible to do what he wants.

The first thing to know is the Defense budget is not a pot of money. In fact, it consists of several different pots of money, known as "accounts"; each fiscal year

Money can be moved from one pot to another during the fiscal year to respond to emergencies, but this causes serious disruption throughout the military, since each service has planned how it will spend its money. It's robbing Peter to pay Paul, and it's best to avoid it, if possible.

The four main accounts are Military Personnel (MILPERS); Procurement (PROC);

Tags: defense budget, barney frank, 25% budget cut,

The Transition Begins

Tue, 11 Nov 2008 02:06:49 GMT

clipped by: zizzy

Clip Source: www.nydailynews.com

CHICAGO - It will be all smiles at the White House Monday when Barack Obama pays a visit - but behind the handshakes is friction over his plan to reverse many of President Bush's edicts on controversial matters like abortion and stem cells.

Obama's legal eagles have targeted more than 200 unilateral Bush moves made in the past eight years for overturning. A team of lawyers has pored over the administration's records for months, preparing for the changes.

Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

Fri, 07 Nov 2008 22:32:48 GMT

clipped by: brightlight4
clipper's remarks: This is smuggling. This is illegal," says Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a group working to stop the dumping of toxic materials in poor countries that certifies ethical e-waste recyclers in the United States. "A lot of people are turning a blind eye here. And if somebody makes enough noise, they're afraid this is all going to dry up."

E-waste workers in Guiyu, China, where Pelley's team videotaped, put up with the dangerous conditions for the $8 a day the job pays. They use caustic chemicals and burn the plastic parts to get at the valuable components, often releasing toxins that they not only inhale, but release into the air, the ground and the water. Potable water must now be trucked into Guiyu and scientists have discovered that the city has the highest levels of cancer-causing dioxins in the world. Pregnancies in Guiyu are six times more likely to result in miscarriages, and seven out of 10 children there have too much lead in their blood.

Allen Hershkowitz

Clip Source: www.cbsnews.com

Following The Trail Of Toxic E-Waste

When Pelley confronted him with evidence of the export, the owner of the Colorado recycling company denied filling the shipping container found on his lot and says his company would not sell scrap CRT monitors or television screens overseas.

But 60 Minutes learned that the company, and 42 other American firms just like it, were recently caught in a government sting. They all offered to break the law by selling such e-waste when solicited by a federal agent posing as a foreign importer.

E-waste workers in Guiyu, China, where Pelley's team videotaped, put up with the dangerous conditions for the $8 a day the job pays. They use caustic chemicals and burn the plastic parts to get at the valuable components, often releasing toxins that they not only inhale, but release into the air, the ground and the water.

This is illegal," says Jim Puckett, founder of the Basel Action Network, a group working to stop the dumping of toxic materials in poor countries

Stranger In Your Home Town

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 20:16:39 GMT

clipped by: debbyski
clipper's remarks: One of THE most difficult things I have ever had to do was to come out of the closet. I really don't think society can understand how very hard it is sometimes to be different. You may think it's so much easier to make the "correct" choices if you can and I thought that for a very long time. You have to be a strong person to come out where I live; a very strong person and I often ask myself why God made me this way. I know there is a reason though, and I think the reason may be to somehow make life better for the next generation of gay and bisexual people. I hope so anyway.

Clip Source: www.bidstrup.com

The problem that I keep facing is that I can't seem to describe to a heterosexual what it is actually like to be gay.

It is something that is so fundamental, so deeply rooted, that most of us gays knew very early on, even as preschoolers, that there was something fundamentally different about us, even from an age so young that sexuality is a complete unknown.

In terms of political activism, Americans need to work to understand that all of American culture pays a price when homophobia is considered an acceptable prejudice. That kind of acceptance of a moral wrong is a cancer that is growing on the integrity of American society. Let's cut that cancer out. And make America the kind of culture and society that its founders envisioned: one where life, liberty and the persuit of happiness are allowed to all of its citizens.

In Election 2008, Don't Underestimate This Voting Block

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 11:28:29 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: He’s used to picking up the tab, whether it’s the company Christmas party, three sets of braces, three college educations or a beautiful wedding.

He believes the Constitution is to be interpreted literally, not as a “living document” open to the whims and vagaries of a panel of judges who have never worked an honest day in their lives.

The Angry White Man owns firearms, and he’s willing to pick up a gun to defend his home and his country. He is willing to lay down his life to defend the freedom and safety of others, and the thought of killing someone who needs killing really doesn’t bother him.

The Angry White Man is not a metrosexual, a homosexual or a victim. Nobody like him drowned in Hurricane Katrina — he got his people together and got the hell out, then went back in to rescue those too helpless and stupid to help themselves, often as a police officer, a National Guard soldier or a volunteer firefighter.

Clip Source: www.aspentimes.com

Each candidate is carefully pandering to a smorgasbord of special-interest groups, ranging from gay, lesbian and transgender people to children of illegal immigrants to working mothers to evangelical Christians.

There is one group no one has recognized, and it is the group that will decide the election: the Angry White Man. The Angry White Man comes from all economic backgrounds, from dirt-poor to filthy rich. He represents all geographic areas in America, from urban sophisticate to rural redneck, deep South to mountain West, left Coast to Eastern Seaboard.

His common traits are that he isn’t looking for anything from anyone — just the promise to be able to make his own way on a level playing field. In many cases, he is an independent businessman and employs several people. He pays more than his share of taxes and works hard.

The victimhood syndrome buzzwords — “disenfranchised,” “marginalized” and “voiceless” — don’t resonate with him. “Press ‘one’ for English” is a curse-word to him

Tags: self-reliant, moderate, charitable, independent,

MyModernMail - Get paid for blogging,podcasting,website

Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:00:43 GMT

clipped by: mobilemen
clipper's remarks: MyModernMail.com is an online service that pays us for our blog,website,podcast, or company for sending our messages,announcements,or newsletters to subscribers.They pay us based upon the number of subscribers we have.So the more subscribers that we obtain,the more we get paid!

Clip Source: www.mymodernmail.com

Tags: mymodernmail, get paid for blogging, blog, website, podcast, advertising, email advertising, online advertising

Five GREAT Reasons To Vote Against Barack Obama

Mon, 03 Nov 2008 06:27:28 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Let’s think about this one for a moment. FICA, the social security and medicare taxes, are set at 15% of the first $102,000 and then they go away. The employer pays half, unless you happened to be self-employed. In that case, you pay the whole thing. So, if the democrats erase the cap, that is an automatic 15% tax increase on all money earned over $102,000. There will also be the tax increase from allowing the Bush tax cuts to expire. And there will be the tax increase on the “rich”, defined somewhere between $120,000 and 250,000. So, how big will these tax increases actually be? More than 15%, less than 30%? Maybe. Maybe more. Nobody knows because Congress writes the laws. And that means Pelosi and Reid.

He has four other terrific and amusing reasons. The courts, the snottiness of the Obamabots, etc. Read it all.

5 Great Reasons To Vote Against Obama ~ by Howie Carr

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/columnists/view/2008_11_02_Five_reasons_to_vote_against_Obama/

Clip Source: bloodthirstyliberal.com

1. He wants to tax working Americans back to the Stone Age. He lies when he says he will cut taxes for 95 percent of Americans. You know it’s nonsense because they can’t keep their numbers straight from hour to hour. Obama claims everyone making under $250,000 is safe, or is it $200,000 (the infomercial) or $150,000 (Joe Biden)? On Friday, Gov. Bill Richardson cut it to $120,000.

Oh what a tangled web we weave. The fact is, the wealth-spreaders have vowed to do away with the Bush tax cuts. So everybody who pays any income taxes is going to take a hit. Plus, the friends of ACORN also plan to get rid of the cap on Social Security withholding taxes. That means everyone who makes over $102,700 will be slaughtered. I don’t have room to talk about capital gains.

I borrowed this picture from my favorite PUMA site because it explains my feelings towards Obama and a picture is worth a thousand words.

- Aggie

Tags: michelle obama, reid, pelosi, frank, tax increases, acorn, void cap on ss withholding taxes, capital gains

Who Broke Health Care?

Thu, 30 Oct 2008 04:50:27 GMT

clipped by: Rustee
clipper's remarks:

More generally, we all need to ask why politicians assert that American health care is broken, and what agenda does it serve.

Clip Source: capmag.com

Many politicians now tell us that health care in America is "broken."

We should ask, if health care is broken, who broke it and how did they break it?

Health care was much more affordable in the 1960s. The government paid for less than 10 percent of all health care. Then the federal government created Medicare and Medicaid and wrote 130,000 pages of Medicare regulations. Now the government pays for 50 percent of all health care.

In the same period, state regulation of medical insurance rapidly expanded, adding many coverage mandates that each policy must comply with.

And new mandates are added all the time, driving up insurance costs every year.

When confronted with claims that health care is broken from the politicians who broke it, the last thing we should do is give them additional powers to break it further. Instead, we need to direct them to reverse the damage they have done, to stop forbidding the options that would make insurance affordable and to start leaving our health care alone.

Tags: government, healthcare

On-Street Fingerprint Checks Plan

Mon, 27 Oct 2008 18:55:47 GMT

clipped by: thisnamecantbetaken
clipper's remarks:

7.5m people on the police national biometric database

I though they said they weren't building a national database?

Clearly concerned about a public backlash against the plan, officials stress that the government is not building up a single central database containing personal information of everyone in the country.

http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/90693085-8F9F-4EBA-8307-9EE5039A57BB/

The initial phase of the the scheme is expected to cost police forces £30-£40m.

And who pays the police?

Clip Source: news.bbc.co.uk

On-street fingerprint checks plan

Hand-held fingerprint scanners enabling on-the-spot identity checks are to be made available to all UK police forces.

The devices, about the size of a mobile phone, will be rolled out from 2010 under a scheme managed by the National Policing Improvement Agency.

Tenders for the Mobile Identification At Scene (Midas) scheme are being sought.

The NPIA said there was a "huge range of opportunities" for using the devices such as during arrests, scenes of crimes and post mortem examinations.

A spokesman said: "It also means police get to stay in the community for longer which increases their presence on the street."

The initial phase of the the scheme is expected to cost police forces £30-£40m.

The devices compare prints against the records of the 7.5m people on the police national biometric database.

"This implies a completely new power for police to fingerprint you in the street, using an iffy technology.

High Profile Feminists Endorse McCain/Palin

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 07:50:43 GMT

clipped by: Cezanne777
clipper's remarks: Prameela Bartholomeusz, Linda Klinge, Shelly Mandell, Lynn Rothschild, and Elaine Lafferty are backing McCain and Palin.

Clip Source: gretawire.foxnews.com

HIGH PROFILE Feminists (yes, feminists!!) Endorse Palin (McCain/Palin)

“When it came time for choosing someone how Barack Obama just
couldn’t bring himself to pick the woman who got 18 million votes in his
primary and that seems to be too familiar a story isn’t it? How it is
for so many American women that the qualifications are there, but for
some reason the promotion never comes.

She hit BHO for not paying women as much as men his Senate office: “Out
on the stump he talks a good game about equal pay for equal work, but
according to the Senate pay roll records women on his own staff get just
83 cents for every dollar that the men get. That’s 9,000 dollars less
every year that he pays the guys.

Tags: feminists, endorse, mccain, palin

Obama: Drivers Licenses, Social Security & Healthcare For Illegals

Fri, 24 Oct 2008 11:07:06 GMT

clipped by: merrie
clipper's remarks: Driver’s licenses and government benefits for illegals. Raise taxes to provide health care
for them.

Who pays? You do.

Higher taxes for us. That’s Obama’s plan.

Obama. Too radical. Too risky.

The National Republican Trust PAC is responsible for the content of this advertisment.

Clip Source: www.nationalrepublicantrust.com

Millions of illegal aliens in the U.S.

Barack Obama’s plan gives a driver’s license to any illegal who wants one.

But that’s not all.

Obama’s plan gives illegals social security benefits and raises taxes for his health care plan to cover them.

Clip Source: www.nationalrepublicantrust.com

Obama's plan calls for Social Security for illegals . . . and higher taxes for you.

[Video]

Tags: obama's plan, illegal aliens, driver licenses, health care benefits, government benefits, social security numbers, higher taxes for americans

Ted Stevens a perfect example of Corrupt Alaskan Polticians

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 14:31:37 GMT

clipped by: papananook
clipper's remarks: He's such an old tool--I hope he goes down hard. He deserves to be punished for his greed.

Clip Source: www.politico.com

If he’s going to walk, Ted Stevens needs the jury to embrace two contradictory ideas as his corruption trial wraps up early next week.

First, he needs the jurors to believe he constantly requested invoices and bills for the renovations of his now infamous Alaskan chalet, even citing Senate rules when doing so. Stevens testified that he's so fastidious about Senate ethics that he always pays for his own lunch, even with friends.

At the same time, Stevens needs jurors to believe that he had nothing to do with money in his house – that he never wrote the checks and left such duties to his wife. Stevens portrayed himself as so removed from the situation back home that he was surprised to find an extra porch and a steel staircase added to his house – and that he had no idea how a large, stainless steel gas grill came to be on his deck.

Stevens accepted a risk in taking the stand Thursday and Friday, and he appeared flustered under cross-examination.

Systematic Dumbing-Down of Education pays off for Socialists

Tue, 21 Oct 2008 10:46:46 GMT

clipped by: chestnut501
clipper's remarks: Voters see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil

Clip Source: www.intellectualconservative.com

1993, billionaire-philanthropist Walter Annenberg announced that the Annenberg Foundation would grant 500 million dollars to various schools

the Collaborative, Co-Chaired by William Ayers, designated Barack Obama to be Chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge Board (Challenge Board). As Chairman of the Board, Barack Obama was the executor in fiscal matters

The first external partner to receive funds, approximately 175,000 dollars, was the “Small Schools Workshop;” an organization founded by William Ayers and directed by Mike Klonsky. Klonsky was the leader of the “New Communist Movement,” a Marxist-Leninist organization of the 70s and 80s with ties to the Black Panther Party.

This group, led by former leaders of the Weathermen Underground Organization, became responsible for reforming the education of Chicago’s school children.

Tags: socialism, communism, obama, education, vote, politics

Ellen Degeneres buys airtime for pro-gay marriage ad

Sun, 19 Oct 2008 15:51:47 GMT

clipped by: wiccantexan

Clip Source: www.woai.com

Talk show host Ellen DeGeneres is spending $100,000 of her own money to buy TV airtime for a public service announcement (PSA), which campaigns against a proposed ban on gay marriage.

DeGeneres - who married her partner Portia de Rossi in August - produced the PSA to persuade California citizens to say no to Proposition 8, which seeks to outlaw same sex marriage.

Patrick Guerriero, boss of campaign group Equality California, pays tribute to DeGeneres' generosity, telling blogger Perez Hilton, "Her voice has a tremendous ability to elevate this conversation above the scare tactics and help people understand what's at stake for the people they know and care about.

"Her generous contribution to the campaign comes just at the right moment - and is done in a way that ensures her conversation with voters continues to Election Day. And it delivers our message that Proposition 8 is unfair and just plain wrong."

Tags: gay, gay marriage